Two Sisters Inn

Manitou Springs, Colorado

Specialty Recipe

Fresh Ginger Muffins

These muffins fill the house with the aroma of fresh ginger and lemon -- it brings the guests downstairs early.

Ingredients

One 2-ounce piece of ginger root

3/4 cup and 1/4 cup sugar, separated

2 Tablespoons lemon zest

1 stick butter or margarine, softened

1 cup buttermilk

2 eggs

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoons baking soda

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease muffin tins. Chop unpeeled ginger into fine pieces (approximately 1/4 cup). Put ginger and 1/4 cup sugar in pan and cook over medium heat until sugar has melted. Remove from heat and let mixture cool. Chop lemon zest into small bits and stir in 1/4 cup sugar. Add lemon mixture to ginger mixture. Stir and set aside.

Put butter in bowl with remaining 1/2 cup sugar and beat until smooth. Add eggs and beat well. Add buttermilk and mix well. Add flour, salt, and baking soda and beat until smooth. Add ginger-lemon mixture and mix well. Spoon batter into muffin tins (3/4 full) and bake for 15 to 20 minutes. Serve warm.

Yield: 16 muffins

High-Altitude Adjustments:

Decrease baking soda by 1/4 teaspoon and sugar by 2 teaspoons.

Increase buttermilk to 1-1/4 cups.

Increase oven temperature by 25 degrees.

• You found this recipe on 1st Traveler's Choice Internet Cookbook. (www.virtualcities.com)