No matter how full you are, there is always space for dessert, especially if it is as delicious as muffins. Muffins are the perfect dessert for those looking to satisfy their taste buds with just a little sugar. Here is an amazingly easy-to-bake recipe for you to try.

Ingredients

● 2 cups all-purpose flour

● 1 egg

● 3 teaspoons baking powder

● 1/4 cup vegetable oil

● 1/4 cup white sugar

● ½ teaspoon salt

● 1 cup of milk

Directions

Step 1:

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Next, either grease a muffin tin that has 12 cups or simply line the cups with paper liners, whichever is easier for you.

Step 2:

Take a large bowl, add flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder to it, and mix it well. Keep mixing and create a hole in the middle of the dry batter.

Step 3:

In a small bowl, add an egg and beat it. Add milk and oil to the beaten egg and whisk it. Afterward, add the beaten egg mixture to the large bowl with the flour mixture. Don’t forget to mix the whole batter quickly but lightly with a fork until it’s perfectly moistened. The trick to determining if the batter is ready to be baked is to check the lumpiness. Now, take the muffin molds and start adding the batter to each of them. Remember to fill the cups only 3/4th and not completely.

Step 4:

Place the cups or tin in the preheated oven until the tops spring back when lightly pressed; they will take about 25 minutes to bake.

Variations to Try

For variations, you can add 1 cup of fresh blueberries or finely chopped raisins to the batter. You can also try date muffins by adding 1 cup of finely chopped dates. For a fresh twist to your regular muffins, try adding grated cheese to the batter. For all the bacon lovers, try the bacon muffins for which you require ¼ cup of crisped bacon in small bits and pieces.

From 1692-1693, there were many accusations of people practicing witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts. These accusations lead to about 150 arrests. The charges these people were given were not a trivial matter. They were tried in courts, which led to 19 executions. However, the question of whether “witches” were burned alive on a stake or not has left people perplexed for years. There is finally an answer and that is – Witches from the American colonies of England were not burned alive but executed in another way.

Different Punishments

According to Professor Elizabeth Reis from Macaulay Honors College at New York’s City University, no witches were burned alive in Salem but were hanged. The American colonies and its colonist England were considered an anomaly back then so they did not burn people convicted of witchcraft. England and its American colonies were an anomaly during that period, at least when it came to burning those accused of witchcraft. History professor Emerson Baker from Salem State University said that people from these regions did not use burning convicts alive as a mode of execution. He authored the book titled A Storm of Witchcraft: The Salem Trials and the American Experience.

Ecclesiastical Courts in Europe

It was found that witchcraft in England, as well as its colonies, was tried like capital crimes in the criminal courts and punished with hanging. That was not the case in Europe. Witchcraft was tried in ecclesiastical courts or courts run by churches. The convicts were punished by being burned at the stake. They believed that this punishment was meant to purify their souls.

A Proper Burial

According to historical research done recently, it was found out that a site called Proctor’s Ledge was erected in 2017 at Salem as a memorial for those executed for witchcraft back in the day. This site was used as a dumping ground for those who were hanged. However, there were records of these bodies being taken home by their respective family members so that they could be buried in their homes.