Rum Raisin Muffins

My recipe journal tells me that I originally made these muffins on 12/28/08. I remember making them. I can't remember if it was snowing, or if it was going to snow, or if it just happened to be that there was lots of snow on the ground. Either way, snow was involved, since it was, after all, December in New Hampshire. I woke up, thinking that I would bake us some muffins for breakfast. That much I definitely remember. I also remember grabbing my copy of Granny's Muffin House and bringing it into the bed with me so that I could find a suitable recipe.

To my dismay, almost every recipe called for dairy--milk, or sour cream, or buttermilk. I do not keep such things in the house regularly--they usually just end up going bad if I haven't bought them for a specific recipe. But, alas, I did not want to leave, due to the snow situation. Finally, I found the one recipe in the book that used only ingredients in the house--Rum Raisin Muffins.

This was the first recipe I ever made out of this cookbook, so I wasn't sure what to expect. It's a quirky book, at best, written in what I take to be a grandmother's Southern accent, with lots of apostrophes where g's should be, and lots of funky little words. Take, for instance, this sentence from the head notes of the Rum Raisin Muffins: "It's because they're fixin' all the goodies for the homecomin' picnic tomorrow." So, with the all the cutesy intros, I was a little worried about the quality of the recipes. I didn't need to be.

These turned out wonderful. I don't know what you say about a household that doesn't have milk available on a Sunday morning, but has no trouble finding the dark rum. But, I can tell you that these muffins were worth it. They made the house smell incredible, and had just a little hint of that special holiday-season feel to them.

I made them again last Saturday. Again, I chose these muffins because I didn't have milk in the house to make any others. I also wanted the taste of the dark rum, without consuming the alcohol. I used up almost all of the Black Seal we had in the house (which wasn't much--trust me). I've told Kurt that he will have to go alone to replenish. Can't imagine waiting in line at a liquor store with a bottle of Black Seal in my hand, while nine months pregnant. Don't really want the angry glares.

Without further ado, here is the recipe for the Rum Raisin Muffins (colloquialisms and apostrophes removed):

1 cup raisins
1 cup boiling water
1/4 cup dark rum

2 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup sugar
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup butter, melted

Pour boiling water over raisins. Add rum and let sit about 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Stir together flour and next three ingredients. Stir in the raisin mixture, liquid included, egg, and butter, just until moistened. Fill paper-lined muffin cups full, and bake approximately 20 minutes. Makes a dozen muffins.