When is a muffin not a muffin? When it’s a scuffin, of course. A scuffin is defined as a cross between a scone and a muffin — and beyond that it’s wide open to interpretation. Some people like to make their scuffins like muffins (soft, cake-like texture) that are in scone shape. Others prefer their scuffins in a traditional muffin shape but with a scone-like batter (more dense, biscuit-like texture and not as sweet). Either way, we wanted to try making some because we just like saying the word “scuffin.”
For the first round, we tried some muffins shaped like scones with these Pumpkin Chia Spelt Scuffins from Oh She Glows. Angela did a side-by-side to show how she made the original recipe (white flour, sugar) healthier (whole wheat spelt flour, agave nectar, and chia seeds for a little boost). Bonus tip: She baked some on a stick and decorated them with faces to make a great little kids’ treat. We didn’t have chia seeds on hand, but we still got thumbs-up from our kid tasters for the “healthy” version.
This next recipe is almost the opposite – a scone batter baked in a muffin shape. From Fragrant Vanilla Cake, we have these Blueberry Almond Scuffins. We substituted fresh blackberries for the dried blueberries, and in the end they did kinda taste like regular muffins, but still they were unbelievably tasty when they were fresh out of the oven. It also prompted our wise seven-year-old to propose making “cuffins” – a cross between cupcakes and muffins.
For a savory option, we like these Asiago Cheese Bacon Scuffins from My Bizzy Kitchen. The goal here is to make something that is scone-like but without quite so much butter. These puppies are almost a meal in themselves (you’ve got your protein, your dairy, your fruit…) and would be great to pop in a lunch box.
Conclusion? Even if they’re not radically different from your traditional breakfast baked goods, scuffins are pretty cool and it’s sure fun to talk about them. Oh, and we want to give a special thank-you shout-out to Little Ladies Who Lunch for the inspiration with their Bacon, Cheddar and Chive Scuffins.
Fun Food Saturday: Because food should be fun.
