After a few more tries and some resounding failures I’ve come back a few steps and tried again. I’ve added a bit of sour cream this time to try and find that “tang”. I also bought a few more muffins from the bakery since it had been some time since I’ve had a comparison.
After nibbling away at one on the drive home and analysing bits of them I am certain that there is shredded cheddar cheese in them because I could see little orange bits in the dough. So here’s one small thing, we don’t buy orange cheddar, only aged white cheddar because we like its snap. So with that in mind, I’ll never hit the bakery ones exactly and that’s OK from a cheese perspective…I just want to get as close as I can using the cheese that I buy.
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3/4 cottage cheese
1/4 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup sour cream
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1 cup + 2 Tablespoons flour
1 Tbsp parmesan cheese, grated
2 Tbsp grated aged cheddar cheese
1+1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 Tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla
pinch of salt
mix dry stuff in one bowl, wet stuff in another, mix together until just moistened through. Pile into 6 greased muffin cups.
Bake at 375 for 20 minutes
I am now certain that they take several hours before they hit the really moist state that Solly’s sells them in so if they come out of the oven seeming too light and airy, just wait until they cool completely and they will be nice and moist.
However, I think the sour cream changed the texture and made them a little too wet. But they are very, very yummy. We did a side by side taste test with the ones from the bakery and Kirk said that the Solly’s are saltier. I agree and the missing salt and associated flavour comes from cheddar cheese. So. Hopefully one last batch might get us there!
(If you are looking for the final recipe, you can find it here –> http://thephilosophicalfish.ca/muffin-mistake/)