We are experiencing more typical Seattle weather, finally! Which is nice. I mean, I like the dry and sunny summery days we’ve been having, but this is Seattle, and it is winter, dammit. Rainy days and Mondays do not always get me down. Plus, it’s baking weather! Plus, the lighting on a rainy day is perfect!

This is probably the last blog post of the month, 😦 , since we will be moving to a new apartment at the end of this month. I usually don’t mind moving, but that’s because usually I choose to move from a place! I actually like it here and don’t want to move, but the landlords want to demolish the building. I’m still in disbelief about it. Oh well. At least the new place will have a washer/dryer in the unit, a deck/patio area, and a bigger kitchen! I will miss the lighting here, though.

So this is a simple muffin, but I think that you will  enjoy it. You will really enjoy it if you like figs and ginger. It makes twelve muffins exactly. Enjoy!

Ginger Fig Muffins

ingredients

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup wheat germ

2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup brown sugar, compact

4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup Greek yogurt (or plain), room temperature

2 eggs, room temperature

1 tablespoon finely grated fresh ginger, compact

1/2 cup fig jam, cutting large pieces of fig into smaller pieces, if needed

zest of one orange

turbinado sugar, for sprinkling, if desired

method

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

Grease 12 muffins tins, or line with paper liners.

Sift and stir with a whisk, the flour, wheat germ, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

Grate the ginger. Zest the orange.

Cream the butter and sugar with a hand held mixer until combined. Add the ginger and zest, and then the eggs, one at a time, mixing after each addition until thoroughly mixed.

Alternate adding the flour mixture and the yogurt. Start and end with the flour in three parts, adding yogurt in two parts between each flour addition. Beating on a slow to medium speed, being careful not to over mix.

With the fig jam, add 2 teaspoons to each top of each muffin, swirling the jam into the muffin batter with a chopstick or straw. Try to keep the jam from being on the sides, as this might burn and make it hard to remove when done.

Sprinkle each muffin top with a little turbinado sugar, if desired.

Bake for about 18-22 minutes. Ovens vary. Mine took about 20 minutes, with the edges looking slightly brown. Do a toothpick test on the center of one of the muffins in the center of the pan to see if it is not wet in the middle. Remove and let cool on a wire rack for about 5 minutes. Carefully remove from pan with a small offset spatula or butter knife and let cool completely on a wire rack.