Sour Cream Coffee Cake Muffins

Yes, I've said before I'd be moving away from the simple carbs.  And yes, here I am again baking those evil sweets.  It's official; I can't let go of these things.  I'll just have to learn with having these in moderation.  Life without baked goods is not a life worth living.  Much.  Besides, I really enjoy making these things.  It's too much fun waiting to see how they all come out and imagining what the muffins will taste like. 

So I decided to go for these sour cream coffee cake muffins.  The original recipe can be found here. 

SOUR CREAM COFFEE CAKE MUFFINS

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 cup sour cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

TOPPING:

1/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 cup chopped pecans

DIRECTIONS:

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, sour cream and vanilla; mix well. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; add to creamed mixture and beat until combined. Pour half the batter into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking pan. Combine topping ingredients; sprinkle half of topping over batter. Add remaining batter and topping. Bake at 325 degrees F for 40 minutes or until done.

PERSONAL NOTES:

For starters, I omitted the pecans and used Greek yogurt instead of sour cream.  I always believed Greek yogurt would be a sufficient substitute and I was right.  It worked great!

Next, as you can see by the photos, I made muffins instead of a full sized coffee cake.  I like making muffins because you can freeze the uneaten portions and have them when you want :)

Pound Cake Muffins

Who says muffins can't be a good breakfast?  I don't know if "good" necessarily equals "nutritious", but these pound cake muffins will do the trick first thing in the morning (or in between teaching class!).

This is a recipe I've been using for at least ten years.  Although, today is the first time I've made them in about 8 years. Let me tell you why:  They are SO good I just about can't stop eating them.  The only way to stop is to not start.  Therefore, no pound cake muffins in 8 years.  However, I was thinking of things to make that I already knew - rather than always experimenting with new items.  And thus, these scrumptious muffins came to mind.

Recipe is courtesy of Muffins: Over 200 Recipes and Variations to Accompany Any Meal by Francesca DiPaolo.  Thank you Francesca!!!

POUND CAKE MUFFINS

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup butter, softened
4 large eggs
1 tbls vanilla extract
2 cups sour cream
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbls baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 375 and prepare a baking pan (either lightly greasing a muffin pan or using paper liners).

In a large bowl, cream together the sugar and butter.  Blend in the eggs, vanilla and sour cream.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and baking soda.

Combine the two mixtures just enough to blend.  Spoon the batter into the prepared pan.  Bake for 20 minutes.  Remove the muffins from the pan, and cool on a wire rack.  Serve warm.

Makes 12 muffins.


PERSONAL NOTES:

This is not one of those recipes that I "lighten" up by substituting applesauce for oil or anything like that.  I make this recipe exactly as it is written.  And it is sooooo outrageously delicious.

One thing you should note is that while the recipe states it makes 12 muffins, these are LARGE muffins.  I usually half the ingredients and still end up with about 8 muffins or so.  As you can tell by the pictures the muffins are fairly large and in charge.

Chocolate Chip Muffins

I tried this this week for the first time and while I think they're tasty, I also think they're lacking more of a chocolate "bite".  They'll have to have another go and either with more cocoa or more melted dark chocolate.  Oh, and the chips I placed on the muffin tops all sank in as they baked.  Can't remember if I've had that happen to me before.  Odd.  Although, it was a nice little surprise to bite into the muffin and catch a bit of milk chocolatey heaven.

Anyway, they looked really good...

The original recipe can be found here. 

CHOCOLATE CHIP MUFFINS

INGREDIENTS:

2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup baking cocoa

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 eggs

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt. In another bowl, beat the eggs, sour cream, water, milk, oil and vanilla. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in chocolate chips. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full. Bake at 325 degrees F for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.

PERSONAL NOTES:

I substituted applesauce for the oil and milk chocolate chips in place of the semi sweet.  These definitely need more than milk chocolate chips!  While the taste is nice, I felt like it could use more of a chocolate punch.