Archive for the ‘muffins’ Category

Raspberry Streusel Muffins

My husband is a finisher. You know, a finisher?

Illustration 1:  He opens the fridge. He’s greeted by a half bowl of soup left over from the night before. Whether or not he actually wants the soup, he pulls it out and eats it for lunch.

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Illustration 2: He’s helping me tidy up the kitchen at the end of the day. I’m feeling oh-so-proud of myself for attacking that huge pile of dishes, and I figure that the very last dish — a large, intimidating stockpot — can just wait until morning. “It’s not going anywhere, Honey.”  ”Yes, Love, but the dishes aren’t done.” So we finish it. See? Finishing.

Illustration 3: He opens the freezer door (again, food-related), and finds himself face-to-face with a half-bag of frozen raspberries. When did we use the first half? Goodness, I have no idea. And I’m embarrassed to even make a guess. Let’s finish them off, shall we?

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And so we were rewarded with a batch of moist and sweet purple-crumbed muffins, bestrewn with zingy raspberries. The crumbly streusel topping only adds to the fun, although if I could reverse time, I’d go back and tell Sugar Duchess Of The Past to not be shy with the streusel. Go to town. It’s like holding hands — there’s no such thing as too much.

This recipe made about 16 standard-sized muffins. That’s a slightly awkward number for a muffin recipe, I know. Sorry. You might try doubling it.

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Raspberry Streusel Muffins

adapted from The Taste of Home Baking Book

 

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1-1/2 cups fresh or frozen raspberries

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup (8 oz) sour cream

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Streusel topping:

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

2 tablespoons cold butter, in pieces

 

Directions:

In a small bowl, make the streusel topping by mixing together the flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Cut in butter until mixture is crumbly. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add berries and toss gently (if you’re using frozen berries, do not thaw before adding to batter). In another bowl, combine the eggs, sour cream, oil and vanilla; mix well. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened.

Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full. Sprinkle the tops with the streusel topping. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.

Posted on April 14th, 2009 by Sugar Duchess  |  8 Comments »

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

***This is me just being a little nit-picky. You can probably tell the formatting is wonky in this post. That’s because I imported it from Blogger, and the Blogger Fairies did something weird to the fonts that I haven’t been able to fix. Okay, I’m done.***

This is the third time today I’ve tried to sit down and write this post. I don’t know, friends. The muse just isn’t with me. Just consider all subsequent words optional, okay?

Actually, what do you say we skip the chit chat for now, and get straight to the muffins? Thanks.
Here’s the deal with these muffins–divine. The lemon flavor pops out in a way that is both big and subtle. The poppy seeds add a slight crunch and a visually delicious speckled effect. The icing adds a bit of a sweet zing that sends the whole thing way over. I could eat them all for breakfast. And maybe I did.
However! However, although terribly delicious, these guys are pretty sneaky little suckers. Sure, they masquerade around under the name of muffins. They lure you in with pretty promises to be dense, wholesome and sustaining, like their muffin friends. But don’t you be fooled for a second. Take one bite, and these little stinkers will show their true colors.
Any muffin this sweet, with such a light and tender crumb, smacks of cupcake. I suspect it started out as a pound cake recipe that was eventually made into cupcakes. And then I imagine some poor, unsuspecting baker got tricked into dubbing them muffins.
Well, I can’t complain. I got surprise cupcakes out of the deal. And cupcakes for breakfast is just what I needed for a Monday morning.

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

from Joy of Baking
Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 Tablespoons poppy seeds
1/2 teaspoon salt
1-1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup granulated white sugar
2 large eggs
zest of one lemon (or 1-1/2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice)
1 cup plain yogurt, not nonfat
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Lemon glaze:
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a small bowl, stir together the flour, poppy seeds, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Set aside.
In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar together. Beat in eggs one at a time. Beat in the lemon zest or juice, plain yogurt, and vanilla, until well blended. Stir in the flour mixture until just moistened. Do not over mix.
Spoon the batter into a prepared muffin tin and bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan and glazing.
Glaze: While muffins are baking, stir together the powdered sugar and lemon juice. The mixture should be runny. Once the muffins have cooled for five minutes, remove from pan and drizzle glaze over them with a spoon.

Posted on February 23rd, 2009 by Sugar Duchess  |  5 Comments »