Dissolve yeast in warm water in large mixing bowl. Add caraway seed, sage and nutmeg. Stir in sugar, salt, egg, shortening and 1 cup of the flour. Beat until smooth. Stir in remaining flour until smooth. Scrape batter from side of bowl. Cover; let rise in warm place until double, about 30 minutes.

Stir down batter by beating about 25 strokes. Spoon into 12 greased muffin cups, 2 1/2 x 1 1/4 inches, filling each about half full. Let rise until batter reaches tops of cups, 20 to 30 minutes.

Heat oven to 400° F. Bake 15 minutes.

*If using self-rising flour, omit salt.

Variation Sour Cream Chive Buns: Decrease warm water to 1/4 cup. Omit caraway seed, sage and nutmeg Mix 3/4 cup dairy sour cream, the sugar salt and shortening. Heat just to boiling cool to lukewarm. Stir sour cream mixture and half of the flour into yeast. Beat until smooth. Mix in remaining flour the egg and 1 tablespoon plus 1 1/2 teaspoons snipped chives.