I’m joining Su and Del, in participating in this month’s virtual tea party. My first attempt at this party is an oldie but goodie – Apricot Oatmeal muffins, from my much beloved recipe book: Muffin Mania, by Cathy Prange and Joan Pauli (who I believe are sisters, and were – are still? – local to my area. Don’t quote me.) I haven’t made this recipe in years. The last time I made it I could easily source apricot baby food (required ingredient) but I can’t seem to find it any more in my local grocery stores. Only mixtures of fruits these days, it seems…
So what’s a gal to do? I had to get creative and figure out how to make a puree from dried apricots. Behold:
My homemade apricot “baby food” worked wonderfully, and now my freezer is stocked with these delicious beauties. These muffins taste more like dessert than anything else. Perfect for Tea Time!
The Muffin Mania cookbook came out in the 1980s and was an immediate success, selling out and going into reprint after reprint. My copy is the 7th printing, from 1982. I just did a cursory search on the Interwebs and it doesn’t appear to be in print any longer.
What is your favourite tea time treat recipe? Is it an oldie yet a goodie, as well? Feel free to join in the tea time festivities, as we enjoy a cuppa and a treat, alone yet together!
Rock on,
The WB
Looks like that cookbook has had a lot of good use. Thank you for the muffins and tea Deb. They were delicious.
Leslie xoxo
Glad you enjoyed them, Leslie 💕
We’ll have to do that again sometime Deb.
Leslie
Yummers! They look delicious. I love how inventive you were in creating your own baby food puree!
Thanks Janis💕 I’ll be making that purée again, and not just for the muffins either!
I don’t drink tea. Tea is poison. But those muffins sure look good. I will virtually enjoy them until dinnertime.
Virtually enjoy away, TG. Thanks 💕
I LOVE this ‘Virtual Tea Party’…especially your tried and true recipe. It almost inspires me to get off of my butt, make a dozen muffins and join in. I did say ‘amost’, right?! Watch this space to see if the spirit moves me. 😀
I’ll be watching 😁. Thanks, Donna💕
I have an oatmeal muffin recipe from the 80s! Must have been popular then. I still make them occasionally. Sometimes I’ll throw in some blueberries and sometimes I’ll make them without. I love apricots. Worth trying that!
I don’t think you’ll be disappointed by the addition of apricots, Kate! Remember when muffins were considered the IT food, and healthy for you? When they were regular sized and not muffins on steroids that were actually just cake without frosting? Yeah, that was the 70s/80s!
I know! I loved them that way. Many today are way too sweet.
I made pumpkin bread today. The recipe is from an old Joy of Cooking. Does that count as a tea time treat? I only ask because I could eat it any time of the day.
Works for me, Ally! Sounds yummy 😋
Scones. I love to make scones—walnut cranberry. Your muffins look great, though. I have to check out your virtual tea party, sounds interesting!
Thanks Jean 💕 I love scones too. Need a Scone Mania cookbook 😄. Do you know of one?
I will never look at dragonflies the same after today, Deb. And I mean it! Pretty china. There is nothing like a favourite recipe book. They stand the test of time. I definitely have some oldies but goodies. I have stayed away from them for many years for good reason. I may resurrect the recipes and watch my portions. Who am I kidding? Your muffins look scrumptious!
Thank you Erica💕 The muffins did turn out nicely. However they were much sweeter than I remembered. That’s either because my purée was sweeter than baby food or my tastes have changed over the years. I would add less sugar to the recipe next time I bake them.
Muffins be my breakfast food on the run. Never slow down to enjoy them. Now cake or a cookie would be my go to for “tea” ( which I don’t drink). Having said that those muffins sound good.
Cakes and cookies are always a good tea or coffee or whatever companion! Thanks Bernie💕
Actually cake is a celebration after supper. Cookies it is. I even know how to make tea — stop on by!🤣
Would love to! Hopefully we can make this happen some quarantine-free day!😁
Hi Deb – they look so good … I’d bring along ‘thunder and lightning scones’ – scones with Cornish cream and golden syrup – as kids we guzzled them … tea or not!! And I too noted the dragonfly … what a fun time … and well done re the apricot puree. I have a few old and beloved cookery books – mostly savoury ones … take care and all the best –
Thank you Hilary💕 Dragonflies are an obsession of mine, since I was 2 years old. I have so many cookbooks – will have to do a mini-purge before I pack them for my move. Muffin Mania is coming, of course. Thunder and lightning scones sound delicious!
always over dosed on them as kids – well later too … those summer days of Cornish teas and family get togethers … nothing like lock-down Eastbourne!! Take care .. H
Oh my. Earl Grey is my favorite and these muffins look amazing. I’m going to copy down the recipe, thank you for including it. My favorite old time recipe is chocolate chip cookies…my page in the cookbook looks something like yours here!
Hey, is that really 1 Tablespoon of baking powder?
Yes ma’am!😁
Thank you Dawn 💕 Yep, that is how you know it is a beloved recipe – by the state of the page it is on! 😜
Miam! I loved how creative you were and made your own puree.
I like scones, or …let’s be honest any sweet bread or cake!
I like your tea cup!
Thank you Deborah💕 The pattern is called June Lane by Kate Spade.
I will happily be a test-taster for you 😁
You are a great taste-tester. This I know already💕
Lately I’ve been getting a little tired of the muffin recipes in my regular rotation. This looks like it would make a nice change. No apricot purée here either but I’m gonna use this as an excuse to finish up some apricot jam I have in the fridge.
That sounds like a great plan, Norm💕 I think it will work just fine.
Thank you so much for joining us, Deb! Those muffins look wonderful and I’m so grateful you included the recipe — I happen to have dried apricots and will try getting oatmeal tomorrow.
Being a muffin lover and valuing your recommendation on the book, I did a quick search on amazon & Thrift Books to see if either had a copy. Nothing on TB, but amazon had some, at high 3-figure prices. 🙀 Definitely a prized little volume!
Take care — be safe!
Thank you Del 💕 I had no idea my little cook book had gone up in value. Hmmm…not that I would ever part with it, but I would have taken better care of it 😜
Hoped that tidbit might tickle your fancy, as the saying goes. Have procured oatmeal and, surprisingly, bread flour (higher gluten content), but still no wholewheat flour or yeast. Am hoping that situation changes before I run out of my packets of yeast. I do heartily dislike even a homemade loaf of white bread, but can’t get proper ingredients for an oatmeal version. Challenging times for us cooks! Take care, and another thank you for joining our tea party, and bringing your delicious muffins! xoxo
The flavor combos sound delish! Not a huge muffin fan, but I’m going to try to convert this recipe into scones. Wish me luck!
Good luck, Clever Girl! Thanks 💕
I just sent this to my wife because she loves baking. She also loves cookbooks. I’m fairly positive that muffin book will be arriving via Amazon or similar with a week. The apricot puree looks delicious! – Marty
Thank you Marty💕
I’ve been thinking of making scones (the British ones – not sure what you call them in Canada). I have a fast recipe (lemonade, flour and cream) which makes brilliant scones, but with that recipe they are best eaten immediately (buggery, hey 😉 ). I’ve already made plum jam from our summer crop, so that will be perfect on top.
We also call them scones, AJ – and we love them! And not just because we are a former colony 😉. Plum jam sounds delicious to me. 💕 I hope you post your recipe – the ingredients are very intriguing and I love anything lemony!
Except lemonade here isn’t lemony, lol. I’ll have to try and work out what lemonade is (talking about the fizzy commercial variety – the lemon flavoured one here is called lemon squash). Once I can translate I’ll post 🙂
I love the amount of detail you put into the post. Especially loving a cookbook that has splotches and signs of use. I’ve been catching up this week, in fits and starts. I managed two new cookie recipes. The kid has been quite willing to let me test things out, though peanut butter cookies weren’t a huge hit, double-ginger ones were. Go figure. I love seeing how everyone is bringing their best plates out for a treat.
Both peanut butter and double-ginger sound wonderful to me! Thank you for the comment 💕
These muffins sound unique and flavorful. YUM. Was talking about a tea party with my 4 year-old grand yesterday. We all hope to go to Disney this summer together…if it reopens. And I would love to go to the tea party with Belle.
I hope you get that chance, Leslie. Thank you💕
Ah, oops! This was the post about baking … it sounds fabulous, but I am fiercely averting my eyes for fear of messing up my weight loss to date. It’s a killer I tell you with all this fabulous baking on social media 😀 Nice idea to have an online tea party though … I’d love to get out my post tea set.
No more tea parties for me, at least not until I get to Vancouver Island 😜. Thanks Deb 💕
Deb, it’s great to have old recipe books with tried and true recipes that you make over and over again. I have one cookbook that I got from my mom that was compiled by a women’s church group in my home town probably in the 50’s. It’s in tatters now, but still my go-to source for devil’s food chocolate cake.
Jude
Isn’t it great, Jude? I have a lot more tried and true recipes that are decades old. 💕