Pecan Sour Cream Muffins

 

Pecan Sour Cream Muffins (Source: Maida Heatter's Cakes (Andrews & McMeel Publishing, 2011 ed., pg. 282).

It has been exactly two months since my last post and yes, I am still kicking. I haven't been baking much, however, because I am on a no-sugar diet. As you can imagine, that isn't fun
at all. It does melt the pounds for me and best of all, lowers my cholesterol. I've actually
been experimenting with keto desserts and while they are by no means a substitute for
recipes like these, they do quell the sweet cravings.

We've been snowed in, like most of the country, for the past week and I was itching to make a real dessert. I only ate one (for taste purposes, mind you) and I can report that they are delicious. Michael and I both felt that a glaze would be a nice addition. It is not called for in the recipe. This is just a simple glaze made with 1 cup of confectioners sugar, 2 tablespoons of heavy cream and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla.

In Maida Heatter's Cakes, where this recipe resides, the baking time is written as 450. I knew this has to be a typo and therefore used 350 instead. They took the full 20 minutes to bake but they were not overly brown on the top. I still think 350 is correct.

The recipe also had enough batter for at least 15 large cupcakes. It would have been more than that but I filled the cups higher than stated.

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/8 tsp. salt
Generous pinch of nutmeg
2 oz. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cup sour cream
5 1/2 oz. (1 1/3 cups) toasted pecans, broken into large pieces plus 12 pecan halves 

Use the middle rack in the oven and preheat to 350. Butter a muffin pan or use cupcake liners (I used the liners).

Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg. Set aside.

Beat the butter until soft. Beat in the sugar. Add the eggs one at a time, until mixed.

On low speed, add half of the flour mixture, then all of the sour cream, and then the remaining flour mixture. Beat only until incorporated. 

Stir in the chopped pecans (reserving the pecan halves).

 

Spoon into the muffin cups and top each with a pecan.

 

Bake for 15-20 minutes, until the tops spring back when lightly pressed. Remove from the pans and cool completely on a wire rack.

They can be served warm or cold.

As I mentioned earlier, I had enough batter to make 3 additional muffins. I baked them separately in a second pan. The glaze (recipe in the intro) is strictly optional.

 

Gingerbread Muffins

Gingerbread Muffins
Source: Maida Heatter's Cakes (Andrews & McMeel Publishing, 2011 ed.), pg. 277.

These delicious gingerbread muffins can be served plain or with vanilla ice cream. The Bittersweet Glaze is also optional. These are very easy to make. Again, I used my silicone baking cups which made the job even easier!

1 3/4 cup sifted all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. finely ground black pepper
1 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. dry powdered mustard
1 egg and 1 egg yolk
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup molasses (preferably dark)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 TBS. granular or powdered instant coffee
1/2 cup boiling water

Preheat oven to 400. The recipe will make about 16 cupcakes so you will need two 12-cup muffin pans but will only need to use 4 cups on one pan. Butter or spray the pans and dust with dry bread crumbs.

Dissolve the coffee in the boiling water and set aside.

Sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, pepper, ginger, cloves, cinnamon and
mustard and set aside.

In a mixing bowl, beat the egg and egg yolk slightly. Beat in the sugar.

Beat in the molasses.

Beat in the oil.

Lower the speed of the mixer and add the dry ingredients until incorporated.

Add the coffee and water mixture.

You will have a thin mixture so it will be easier if you transfer it to a measuring cup
to pour into the cupcake forms. Fill about 2/3 full.

Bake for about 15-20 minutes until the muffins spring back when they are lightly pressed with the fingertips. Do not overbake. Serve hot or cold.

Blueberry Muffins

Blueberry Muffins
Source: Maida Heatter's Cakes (Andrews & McMeel Publishing, 2011 ed.), pg. 276.

These muffins are light and delicious and can be served warm or cold. They also freeze well. They are also simple to make. I'm still on a silicone kick and this time I used silicone cupcake cups. They worked great. Not as quick and easy to clean as the silicone pan was but of course you have to clean each individual cup. 

I confess that I did not use fresh blueberries. I had some in the freezer and they worked fine in the recipe. Be sure that the berries are dried properly before incorporating them into your flour mixture! 

1 cup fresh blueberries
1 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
2 TBS. unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup milk
Finely grated rind of 1 medium-sized lemon

The full recipe is available here.

      

Combing the blueberries with flour with keep them from sinking to the bottom of the muffins.

Fill the muffin forms about 2/3 full.

Texas Chocolate Muffins

Texas Chocolate Muffins
Source: Maida Heatter's Cakes (Andrews & McMeel Publishing, 2011 ed.), pg. 287.

We had a retirement brunch for a co-worker this week and I made these muffins and Maida's Bran Muffins. As she says in her introduction, these are not really muffins but more like brownie cupcakes. Keep an eye on your baking time. She says 33-35 minutes but they were done for me in 20 minutes. This recipe makes 12 large muffins.

1 cup sifted all-purpose flour
Pinch of salt
3 TBS unsweetened cocoa powder
8 oz. (2 sticks) unsalted butter
2 oz. unsweetened chocolate
2 oz. semi-sweet chocolate
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract
7 oz. (2 cups) toasted pecans, broken into large pieces

Preheat oven to 350.

Butter and line a standard 12-muffin pan.

Sift together the flour, salt and cocoa and set aside.

Melt the butter and chocolates together in a heavy saucepan over low heat. Stir with a wooden spoon until melted and smooth.

Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the sugar.

Stir in the eggs, one at a time.

Add the vanilla and almond extracts.

Add the dry ingredients, stirring until smooth

Add the nuts

The mixture will be thick and gooey. Add it to the muffin liners, filling to the tops.

Bake for 20 - 35 minutes (depending on your oven), until tester comes out clean or barely clean. Do not overbake. Cool on a rack. When cool, the muffins will develop a hard and crunchy crust.

Bran Muffins

Bran Muffins
Source: Maida Heatter's Cakes (Andrews & McMeel Publishing, 2011 ed.), pg. 274.

These muffins are moist, dark and sweet. They can be made ahead and baked the next morning or are good stored in an airtight container. The recipe makes 18 muffins. I used 2 standard 12 muffin pans and just filled the second with 6 muffins.

2 oz. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed
1/4 cup dark or light molasses or honey
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1 1/2 cup bran cereal
5 oz. (1 cup) raisins
4 oz. (1 cup) walnuts, broken into small pieces
1/2 cup sifted all-purpose whole wheat flour (stir lightly to aerate before measuring)
1/2 cup sifted all-purpose white flour (stir lightly to aerate before measuring)
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking soda

Preheat oven to 400. Adjust rack to center of the oven. Butter and line muffin pans with paper liners (you can also make them without the liners).

Melt the butter in a small pan over low heat.

Pour the melted butter into a large mixing bowl.

Add the sugar

Add the honey (or molasses)

In a separate small bowl, beat the eggs only to mix.

Gradually add the milk and mix.

Slowly add the egg mixture to the butter mixture, stirring with a wire whisk to blend.

Add the bran.

Add the raisins.





Add the walnuts.

Sift together the whole wheat flour, the all-purpose flour, salt and baking soda.

Add the sifted ingredients to the bran mixture.

Stir with a rubber spatula very little and quickly, only until the dry ingredients are moistened.

Bake for 10-15 minutes, just until the tops spring back when lightly pressed. Baking may take a few minutes longer if you refrigerated the wet ingredients overnight. Cool on racks.

Variations: You can add about 12 coarsely cut dates or 6 coarsely cut dried prunes along with the raisins. Or add a few spoonfuls of pumpkin or unsalted sunflower seeds along with the nuts. Or sprinkle the tops with sesame seeds before baking.