cinnamon muffins

muffins with layers of cinnamon filling and streusel topping

I couldn't wait to bake these muffins as soon as I saw them on the King Arthur Flour baking blog. This was also another good opportunity for me to use one of my favorite ingredients, Baker's Cinnamon Filling from King Arthur Flour. I had no doubt these muffins would please my husband who has a weakness for cinnamon. True enough, they were a sure hit. The surprise cinnamon filling made them extra flavorful. I like to combine all purpose and whole wheat flour when I bake so I adjusted the recipe as I went along. I also ran out of oats so I omitted it. I also combined milk with some light sour cream not just to lessen the sweetness but to make the muffins extra moist.

CINNAMON MUFFINS (adapted from King Arthur Flour ~ Simply Sinful Cinnamon Muffins)

For the cinnamon filling:

1/2 cup Baker's Cinnamon Filling (or substitute a mixture of ground cinnamon, brown sugar and melted butter)
3-4 tablespoons water

Gradually stir the water into the cinnamon filling mix. Transfer the mixture to a small ziplock bag then cut a small hole in one corner. Set aside.

For the streusel topping:

1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
3 tablespoons butter, softened

Combine all the dry ingredients then cut in the butter with a fork or small spatula. Set aside.

For the muffin batter:

1 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons cornstarch
3/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 cup melted butter
1/4 cup sour cream
1/2 cup milk
2 large eggs, slightly beaten

Grease and flour (I used a non-stick baking spray) a 12-cup muffin pan. In a big mixing bowl, whisk all the dry ingredients together. In a separate bowl, mix the butter, sour cream, milk and eggs together then pour into the dry ingredients. Lightly mix with a fork just until combined. Spoon about two tablespoons of the batter into each muffin cup. Spoon or pipe the filling mixture generously on top. Spoon more of the batter then pipe more filling on top to complete the layers. Finally, spoon about 2 tablespoons of the streusel on top of each muffin. Bake at 375F for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown and streusel topping is lightly toasted.

cross section showing the filling inside

weekday cooking ~ English peas

This beautiful batch of English peas was in our produce box this week. It was good to try them out for a simple weekday side dish. A bunch didn't make much, just enough for two servings. They were so fresh and easy to peel but I have to say it was a lot of work. However, it took only a few minutes to sautee the peas with finely minced onion followed by a light sprinkle of salt and pepper to highlight the fresh flavor of the peas. It was nice to have a bright shade of spring green on the dinner table. It was a perfect dish to serve with a simple weekday meal.