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The Batter Thickens

A food blog balancing sweet treats & healthy eats.

Dirt Bombs (from The Summer I Turned Pretty)

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I need to clarify for my audience that is less plugged in to pop culture that these are not from the summer that I turned pretty. These are from a TV show called “The Summer I Turned Pretty,” which is based off of a young adult book series that definitely has a great title for a book meant for teenage girls. I never read the book series. (I don’t judge books by their covers, but I do judge them by their titles!) However, three summers ago when I was browsing on my TV and saw this show, I clicked on it just to see what the plot could possibly be.

Turns out, the plot could be insane!! It’s about a 16 year old girl who spends every summer at a beach house with her mom’s best friend’s family. Conveniently, the family they spend summers with has two boys that are a year and two years older than her. Can you see where this is going?

She’s been in love with the oldest one for supposedly her entire life, and yet they manage to squeeze three seasons worth of love triangle out of it. And it’s only gotten more insane – in season one, she chooses the older brother, in season two they break up and she switches to the younger brother. Now, in the third season, she got engaged (at 20) to the younger brother, but the older brother is back in the picture!

A lot of this season has been every one of her family and friends telling her she is insane for getting engaged as a junior in college. She has accepted an engagement ring that cost less than $300, gave up her study abroad program, is trying to pay for a wedding using… waitress money (which means a dress from a prom dress store), and insisting beyond reason to get married within an 8 week engagement. Her mom has refused to attend the wedding, and she still has not clued in to the fact that she should probably not get married to this guy!

It’s kind of like watching a car crash, where it’s not good but I can’t look away. I don’t even like most of the characters. I also like laughing at it, and feeling like I’ve made better decisions than other (fictional) people. My brain is likely too developed for this plot though, because all I’m thinking about is the finances of it. She’s got her first job in an attempt to pay for the wedding… is her first time filing taxes going to be as a married person? And then she quit the job with no notice because she moved after her mom told her maybe she shouldn’t get married? Why is she trying to get married before she’s ever received a W-2? Why was her fiancé willing to go into credit card debt just to pay for a $750 cake for their wedding, when the ring cost $300? Why do they think it’s a good idea to get married against their parents wishes when their parents are still paying for their college and the roofs over their heads? How do they plan to afford a place to live? Why are they all so stupid??

Anyways, the tides appear to be turning back again to the older brother! He’s the “co-best-man” in her wedding, which isn’t awkward at all. And he baked her these muffins for her birthday, after the fiancé brother had to go back to a different city to work at an internship where he gets people coffee. So naturally, now she’ll probably break off the wedding and switch back to her ex who will then be her other ex’s brother. I foresee no issues with that outcome! Totally normal, healthy behavior!

All this to say: I had to bake these muffins, both because they sounded good, and to see whether they were worth her destroying a family. And yes, they were good! They rely heavily on the butter and cinnamon sugar that they’re dunked in, and they’re a bit like a donut/muffin hybrid. I’m a big cinnamon fan, so these were a big hit! They’re also incredibly easy to make – a one bowl recipe that takes about 5 minutes to pull together, and then a little bit more for the butter and cinnamon sugar step. These would be perfect to make fresh and eat warm on a weekend morning.

However… I don’t think they’re good enough to leave your fiancé for your ex who is also your fiancé’s brother. But to each their own!

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Dirt Bombs

  • Author: Audrey
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Description

Makes 6 muffins

Ingredients

Muffins

  • 1 cup all purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp kosher salt
  • 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1 egg
  • 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted and cooled slightly

Cinnamon Sugar Coating

  • 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 tsp cinnamon

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Coat 6 of the muffin cups in a a standard size muffin tin with nonstick spray, or line with parchment.
  2. In a medium bowl, melt the butter. Then, combine with the milk and egg and whisk until smooth. 
  3. Then, add in the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg and whisk until just combined, taking care not to overmix.
  4. Evenly divide the batter between the muffin cups and bake until a toothpick comes out clean, about 25 to 30 minutes. Let the muffins cool to set for 5 minutes in the pan, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool until slightly warm. This will help the coating adhere.
  5. Pour the melted butter into a shallow dish, then combine the sugar and cinnamon in a second shallow dish. Working one at a time, roll the muffins in the melted butter, then in the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Repeat with remaining muffins, butter and sugar.

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