Springtime Lemon Muffins

A few years ago I attended a bake off held to raise money for a girls youth group. It was a yearly event many residents looked forward to as they stuffed their wallets with cash hoping to snag one of Mrs. A’s delectable delights. Lemon bars were on the block. The gavel rang at $72.00. Mrs. A is what I call her because I cannot for the life of me remember her name. She was a petite older woman but full of spunk. I asked her what the attraction was as I had never tried her lemon bars before. She pulled me closer and whispered in my ear, “I only use real lemon.” I supposed she was not about to give up the recipe but I have followed her rule of always using real lemon juice. Not the stuff from a bottle.

Source: Michelle Christensen
1/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 egg
3/4 cups, plus 1 tbsp flour
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup milk
1/2 tsp lemon zest, grated

In a medium bowl, cream together butter, sugar, lemon juice, and egg. Sift together dry ingredients. Alternately add dry ingredients and milk to make a thick batter. Stir in lemon zest. Spoon into paper-lined muffin tins (2/3 full) or loaf pan. Bake muffins at 350 degrees for 10–15 minutes or until golden brown. Bake loaf at 325 degrees for about 30 minutes. Just before the muffins or bread come out of the oven, combine syrup ingredients in medium saucepan.

Syrup:
2 tbsp lemon juice
1/4 cup sugar

Combine and heat just until sugar is dissolved. Prick small holes in top of baked bread or muffins with toothpick, then gently pour lemon syrup into holes. Cool. Makes 12 muffins or 1 loaf.