Coffee Cake Muffins

On Saturday, I tried a recipe from my new cookbook, How to Cook Everything, by Mark Bittman. They turned out well, and my husband even thought they were better than the coffee crumble cake from Starbucks.

The sugar in this muffin recipe is kept to a minimum, so if you prefer a sweeter muffin, you should increase to taste. I made it according to the recipe and I thought it was fine.

3 tablespoons melted butter or canola or other neutral oil, plus some for greasing the muffin tin
2 cups (about 9 ounces) all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 egg
1 cup milk, plus more if needed

1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup finely chopped walnuts, pecans, or cashews
2 tablespoons melted butter

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Farenheit. Grease a standard 12-compartment muffin tin.

2. Mix together the dry ingredients in a bowl. Beat together the egg, milk, and butter or oil in a separate bowl. Mix together the brown sugar topping in a separate bowl. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients and half of the brown sugar-nut mix into it. Using a large spoon or rubber spatula, combine the ingredients swiftly, stirring and folding rather than beating, and stopping as soon as all the dry ingredients are moistened. The batter should be lumpy, not smooth, and thick but quite moist; add a little more milk or other liquid if necessary.

3. Spoon the batter into the muffin tins, filling them about two-thirds full and handling the batter as little as possible. (If you prefer igger muffins, fill the cups almost to the top. Pour 1/4 cup water into those cups left empty.) Bake 20 to 30 minutes, or until the muffins are nicely browned and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let rest for 5 minutes before taking them out of the tin. Serve warm.