Like the portions of so many baked goods and desserts served up today, muffin sizes have become monstrous in recent decades compared to muffins my mom served our family.
Whether it was blueberry muffins or cornbread muffins, all were baked in traditional tins and no larger than palm-sized to satisfy.
The muffins of today sold in bakeries and coffee shops seem large enough to park inside a two-car garage, or at least it starts to feel this way about halfway through taste buds tackling pumped-up muffins of exaggerated appetite portions.
Purdue Northwest Intramurals Director Matt Dudzik at the Hammond campus contacted me last week to alert me that muffins were on the menu for his 2026 annual Spring Intramural Baking Contest.
For 18 years, I’ve served as a judge, sampling and scoring baked goods to crown each year’s winning contestants and honor the best of homemade cookies, cupcakes, brownies, pies and cakes.
“For this year’s contest, we focused on muffins since we’d never featured muffins in any of the past years,” Dudzik said.
“As usual, the contest was open to all PNW students, faculty and staff to participate. We teamed with the Drake Hotel in Chicago, so our winning bakers could have a fun grand prize to tour the historic kitchens at the Drake and watch their 120-year-old baking ovens going full force to create the delicious baked items enjoyed by guests each day. The hotel pastry chef will also share baking tips with the winners while serving muffins and coffee to toast their win.”
The first round of judging was April 23 and then narrowed to three finalists.
My final round of judging was then held Friday, and I declared Purdue seniors team duo Halie Wolf, 23, of Lafayette, and Shelby Robinson, 21, of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, both studying biology and worthy of baking ovations for their “Matcha White Chocolate Muffins.”
Matcha is a finely ground powder of Japanese green tea leaves, which are grown in shade, offering a striking characteristic green hue and releasing a strong flavor and powerful antioxidants from a reaction with boiling water.
Zen Buddhist monks and Japanese tea farmers have been growing and harvesting matcha leaves using centuries-old shade-grown methods since the 16th century.
Second place baking contest winner was Selina Elias, 19, of Munster, a freshman studying forensic science, for her recipe for “Brown Sugar and Blueberry Muffins.” Third place winner was Ranna Weston, 20, of Hobart, a sophomore studying business analytics, and her recipe for “Glazed Blueberry-Lemon Muffins.”
Columnist Philip Potempa has published four cookbooks and is the director of marketing at Theatre at the Center. He can be reached at pmpotempa@comhs.org or mail your questions: From the Farm, PO Box 68, San Pierre, Ind. 46374.
Matcha White Chocolate Muffins
Makes 1 dozen
Muffin batter
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons matcha powder
1/2 cup unsalted butter (melted)
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup white chocolate chips
Crumble topping
1/2 cup flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter (cold and cubed)
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees and line muffin tin.
2. In a small bowl, carefully use a knife to cut in chilled butter with remaining two ingredients to create crumble topping. Chill this crumble topping.
3. In bowl, whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and matcha powder.
4. In another bowl, mix melted butter, eggs, buttermilk and vanilla extract.
5. Combine wet and dry ingredients gently, being careful not to overmix.
6. Fold in white chocolate chips and fill muffin cups to the top.
7. Add crumble topping and extra chocolate chips on top.
8. Bake for 5 minutes at 425 degrees, then reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake 15-18 minutes.
