Final Figs of Fall, Part II: Jammy Fig Muffins

With the very last of my fresh fig supply, I decided to try Karen DeMasco's "Jammy Fig Muffins" from Craft of Baking. The recipe calls for black Mission figs, but I used yellow-green figs with light pink flesh (I think they might have been the Celeste variety). DeMasco says she calls the muffins "jammy" because "the fruit magically transforms into a jam while the muffins bake."

This recipe is quite straightforward. You cream room temperature butter and dark brown sugar, and then alternately add in sifted dry ingredients (flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt) and wet ingredients (buttermilk, egg, vanilla). Then you fold it chopped figs. I took one of DeMasco's suggestions and added chopped toasted hazelnuts into the batter and also sprinkled some on top of the muffins before baking.

These muffins did not rise very much in the oven and the tops were almost flat. Although the recipe says you should let the muffins cool completely, Tom and I couldn't resist trying one warm. They were freakin' fantastic. The figs all sank during baking (in the photo below, the light-colored layer at the bottom of the muffin is all fig), and they did in fact turn into a jammy consistency. While the figs were warm, the figs weren't holding their shape at all, and the muffins were so tender that they basically fell apart when we pulled them open. But eating the freshly-baked muffins with their warm cinnamon flavor was like eating a big, delicious hug. They were fabulous.

When the muffins were cool, they were still very good, but just not quite the same. After trying these muffins with the hazelnuts, I can't imagine making the muffins without them, because I think that the toasted flavor and crunchy texture of the hazelnuts might be the best part of this muffin. The jammy figs and cinnamon flavor in the muffin are also amazing, and all of the flavors and components in the muffin go together seamlessly. The only thing I might change is trying to cut the pieces of fig smaller or maybe tossing them in flour first so that they wouldn't all sink to the bottom, but otherwise, I couldn't be happier with my last fresh fig recipe of the season.

Recipe: "Jammy Fig Muffins" from Craft of Baking, by Karen DeMasco.