Better known for his envelope-pushing Australian dinner fare — think kangaroo tenderloin and Moreton Bay Bugs — Andrew Evans, chef/owner of the Inn at Easton on the Eastern shore does a bang-up job with breakfast too. The spread served in the Aboriginal art-filled dining room includes such gems as Greek yogurt parfaits, donuts, sausage rolls, and lemon crunch muffins. The muffins are a cinch to whip up for a weekend breakfast. But stash some for later. With their crunchy, glazelike topping, they make for a great dessert too.
Lemon Crunch Muffins
Makes 8 to 12 muffins.
2 cups self-rising flour
3/4 cups sugar
Zest of 1 lemon
1 cup milk
1 egg
3 1/2 ounces butter, melted
Juice of 1 lemon combined with about 1/2 a cup of sugar, to the consistency of wet sand.
In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, and lemon zest with a wooden spoon until blended. Combine milk and egg in another bowl and whisk in melted butter (this breaks up the butter into small bits which makes for a lighter muffin). Make a well in flour mixture and whisk in milk mixture just until ingredients are incorporated. Fill greased and floured muffin tins 3/4 full with batter. Bake at 350 degrees until knife comes out clean, about 12 minutes. As soon as muffins come out of oven, brush the top of each muffin with the sugar-lemon juice mixture. When the muffins cool, the muffins will have a crunchy coating.
Tip: To get the slick, cupcake-y look of the muffins in the photo, cut parchment paper into 3 by 3 inch squares and push into muffin tins (you don’t have to grease and flour tins).
