National Muffin Day

National Cancer Institute, Renee Comet (photographer) [Public domain]

National Muffin Day is on February 20th in the United States.

Muffins refer to two types of baked products, both of which are individual-sized. The first, older, type of muffin is a part-raised flatbread, one that is often referred to as an English muffin. The second type of muffin, sometimes called an American muffin, is a quickbread that is similar to a cupcake, which is chemically leavened and then baked in a mould.

Flatbread muffins are rarely flavoured or sweetened, and are often used as part of a larger dish, such as Eggs Benedict. the American muffin is commonly sweetened, but can be savoury as well, and flavoured, as well as having other ingredients added. Savoury muffins include such as the cheese muffin whilst sweet muffins have such as blueberries, chocolate chips and lemon added to them. These muffins are similar to cupcakes, but cupcakes tend to be smaller and served as sweet desserts with frosting, whilst the American muffin is a common breakfast item.

National Blueberry Muffin Day

July 11th is National Blueberry Muffin Day in the United States.

There are two main types of muffin, the American muffin, which is an individual sized quick bread that is very similar to the cupcake, and what is called the English muffin (outside of the UK anyway), which is a flattened disc shape of leavened bread. This particular day celebrates a variety of American muffin. These can be both sweet and savoury; a blueberry muffin is naturally a sweet variety.

Blueberries are a type of fruit - which tend to be indigo-coloured, rather than blue - that is in season at this time of year in the Northern Hemisphere. The blueberry muffin will have blueberries mixed into the batter; it may also have a centre of blueberry preserves, which can be injected into the muffin.

National Oatmeal Muffin Day

December 19th is National Oatmeal Muffin Day in the United States.

Another one of the more specific food celebrations, this one for a particular type of muffin.

This type of muffin is sometimes called an American muffin, to distinguish it from the flatter version known as the English muffin. This type is an individual bread dish, rather like a cupcake in both preparation and size. Cupcakes are often made in muffin trays. Muffins can be sweet or savoury, although sweet varieties tend to be more common.

This particular type uses oatmeal, which is made from oat groats. There are a number of different ways of preparing oatmeal, such as grinding, steel-cut, crushed and rolled. These different ways also tend to result in a product with different cooking requirements, so care should be taken that the muffins are cooked in the correct way.

Before cooking, other ingredients can also be added, and after cooking, the muffins can then be decorated or topped.