I baked muffins yesterday for the computer surgeon at Mr. Chili’s office who saved my computer. It’s really the least I could do; I’m practically falling-on-my-knees grateful to the guy for rescuing me from internet deprivation (and for rescuing our finances from the not unsubstantial hit of a replacement computer).
Mr. Chili asked Jon what kind of yumminess he preferred, and his answer was “something breakfast-y.” I baked coffee cake muffins for him and I have to say that, despite my never having used this recipe before (and my trusting the cooking time and singeing the topping on a few of them), they came out pretty damned good.
I got the recipe from here and modified it a bit - my being an experienced baker gave me the knowledge to realize that the mixture was the wrong consistency and needed some milk (and the confidence to add it). Here’s the recipe as *I* made it.
Trust me: yumminess.
Cream together 1/2 cup softened butter with 1/2 cup sugar. Add 2 eggs, 1 cup sour cream, and 1 tsp. vanilla and mix well. Set aside.
In a different bowl, sift 2 cups flour with 1 tsp. baking powder, 1 tsp. baking soda, and 1/4 tsp. salt (I do this with a whisk - just dump everything on top of the flour and gently stir with a whisk until it’s all fluffy and combined). Add flour mixture to butter-and-egg mixture alternately with about 1/2 cup of milk (add more if the batter seems too thick - this is where the recipe and I differed; the original had no milk and the batter was more like Play-Doh than muffin mix). Set aside.
In a separate bowl (I used the one that just held the flour mix), make the marble:
combine 1/2 cup brown sugar (I used super-dark, but that’s just me), 1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts (I used pecans, but that’s just me), and 1 tsp. ground cinnamon (I used about 2 tsp, but that’s just me). The recipe says to save 2 T. for the tops of the muffins, but really, you’ll need way more than that - use all of this for the marble and make another 1/2 cup for the tops…
Drop the marble into the batter and BARELY fold it in; you want there to be ribbons of the stuff in your muffins. Scoop batter into muffin cups that are well greased (or, if you’re lazy like I am, drop them into muffin papers - there’s less clean up that way). Sprinkle sugar mixture on top and bake at 375 degrees for 17-22 minutes (I went the whole 22, like the recipe said, and some of my tops were a little too crispy for my liking).
There’s little as satisfying as the smell of cooking cinnamon in the house. Try these, really - they’re easy and very, very tasty.
I think they’ll do nicely as thank you presents.
I like breakfast-y baked goods too! I might have to try these. My favorite right now is a chocolate swirl banana bread. The kids get so upset if I make banana bread without the swirl…
Did you know that cinnamon is a natural appetite suppressant? Probably why it figures in a lot of breakfasty foods. Sugar though, boosts the appetite.
So does reading about cinnamon.
Yummmmmmmmm.
Now that the moons have aligned and my oven is working I’ll happily be trying these this weekend.
I’m kind of a scone man myself.
Truth is, I’ll eat anything for breakfast, without regard to the abbreviated food list which seems to have taken morning mealtime.
Yeah - we’ve had breakfast conversations before: I’ve got limits on what I can comfortably consume in the morning. No leftover burritos or pizza; I want nice, calm, non-aggressive food before noon…
Cold pizza breakfast is my favorite.
I don’t know if I’ll try this recipe in particular — not much a fan of coffee cake — but this post is exciting because it reminds me that I can make muffins! And eat them! For days! Muffins are one food I’m good at baking, and without my dad and brother to scarf them up immediately I can probably make them last for a good while.