Do you know the muffin man?

For about 5 months now, I’ve been craving muffins. But I haven’t just been craving to eat them; I’ve been craving to make them. I’ve been craving the rhythmic mixing of batter in a bowl, the plop-plopping of little spoonfuls of batter into a muffin pan and the soft rising of dough in a warm oven. So, why didn’t I just make muffins already, you ask? Well, I didn’t have a muffin pan.

I had looked at muffin pans at the store. I had eyed them for months. But buying a muffin pan just seemed like such a silly, needless thing to do when there was soap and shampoo and toothpaste to be bought. So every week, I would talk myself out of buying one, only to wake up on Saturday mornings dreaming of big, puffy homemade muffins.

So finally, last week, I put an end to my muffin pan lust. It was Friday, I had some extra change in my pocket and the muffin pans were calling to me, and I must say, it was one of the best purchases I’ve ever made.

Last weekend I broke in my new pan with blueberry muffins. They turned out fabulous — warm and bursting with berries. I sliced them down the middle, melted butter into their squishy insides and ate them with a giant glass of milk. I could have eaten all twelve, but I made myself stop after three.

Just thinking about them makes my mouth water and my pulse spike, makes me crave the cracking of eggs and measuring out of sugar, makes me want to rush to the grocery to browse the baking isle for ideas for future muffin masterpieces.

This weekend, I’ve got my heart set on banana nut. Next weekend is up in the air, but chocolate chip is always an option. You name them, I’m gonna bake them. That’s my new muffin-making motto.

Some might ask, do you know the muffin man? But not me. I ask, do you own a muffin pan? If not, I suggest you get one.