Sara of I'm a Food Blog has been on a muffin kick lately. They're great to make ahead, freeze, and have on hand. Adapted from a recipe by Dorie Greenspan, these lemon poppy seed muffins are a bright start to your day. Take the time to enjoy them with a cup of tea at home or at work. Related Baking with Dorie: Ricotta-Berry Muffins Pumpkin Muffins with Pecan Streusel Topping Morning-After Cranberry Sauce Muffins... More

Well, it's about time. A pan dedicated to the only part of the muffin that matters: the top. Available for $19.95 on spoonsisters.com. Related Photo of the Day: Cupcake vs. Muffin Muffin Films Muffins for Easter: Cadbury Creme Egg Muffins... More

Have you ever had a good fat-free muffin? I'm not talking about one that was simply passable when toasted and slathered with jam. I mean a really excellent fat-free muffin: tender and moist with a crunchy, golden top, and brimming with juicy berries. I certainly haven't. To paraphrase the writer Phoebe Damrosch, author of Service Included, muffins are nothing more than an excuse to eat cake for breakfast. And just as I've never encountered a delicious slice of fat-free German chocolate, red velvet, or lemon layer, I've never come across a diet muffin that didn't taste cloyingly sweet and a bit too much like sand. But that's not for lack of trying. Whether shrink-wrapped next to the cash register at... More

Photograph by Robyn Lee. Yesterday, Robyn and I traveled out to quaint Tarrytown, New York to see Andrew Bird perform. Before the show, we popped our little heads into a nextdoor coffee shop, Coffee Labs Roasters, only to find this sign on the glass case. Too many muffins is never a bad thing. Because it only means that, somewhere, it's raining muffins! Wherever "they" are.... More

Earlier this year, Starbucks pitched a new game plan: Focus more on coffee, less on noncoffee things. Get back in touch with their roots. But the breakfast sandwiches are still available (now in less-fragrant form), bottled juices still get stocked in the fridge, and yesterday, a "healthier" breakfast line-up with fewer calories and more protein settled in behind the glass counter. Here's our take on the new noncoffee products. Power Protein Plate, $4.95 330 calories with peanut butter, 260 without (about one-third of your daily protein intake) The plastic tray includes a hard-boiled egg, some apple slices, a tiny sprig of grapes, two squares of white cheddar, a mini wheat bagel, and a squeezable ketchuplike packet of peanut butter. If... More

Good morning, serious eaters! For your pixelated breakfast this morning, we bring you this batch of animated muffin films, which is truly bizarre and strangely compelling. From muffin-alien invaders to peer-pressure-wielding muffins, this even dozen of shorts makes for a nice diversion before you really get down to the day's work at hand.... More

Why had I not heard about the glorious marriage of muffin and goo-filled chocolate treat before reading Nicole Weston's recipe for Cadbury Creme Egg Muffins? Weston say that while you probably wouldn't want to serve these at any regular brunch (but...but maybe I do!), they're good for Easter and may prevent you from eating a bag of Cadbury Mini Creme Eggs all at once, "since you’ll have to eat through each muffin to get to them first." I like that idea; stagger your intake of eggs by wrapping each one in a muffin.... More

Photograph taken by Lori Baltazar I must thank Lori of Dessert Comes First for introducing me to doughnut muffins, or muffins that (kind of) taste like doughnuts. I'm also wondering why I've never heard of them or seen them before—does anyone sell doughnut muffins? Sure, I could follow this recipe, but then I'd probably eat them all. Thus is the hazard of baking. I'll just admire Lori's baking prowess for now. Previously: Meet & Eat: Lori, Dessert Comes First... More