Small batch coffee cake muffins (and other things)

I have been having a great time baking and cooking from Christina Lane's books and website, Dessert for Two.  You might know that I favor small-batch baking; it meshes well for our family of 3 and lets me bake and cook (i.e., have fun) more often.  It took me a while to discover Christina but it's certainly better late than never!  I love her signature small-batch recipes and I've had a lot of delicious success with them.

I know I can't (or shouldn't) post every one of the recipes I've tried but I had to post this one for a small-batch of 4 coffee cake muffins.  They were just glorious!  Plus, I always feel the need to give muffins some love and attention every once in a while because they are just so darn lovable.

These coffee cake muffins have crumb topping not only on top of them but also a bit tucked in the center...because if you're going to eat coffee cake or crumb cake, you want plenty of those sweet crunchy crumbs! 

I whipped the batter up one morning by hand (many of Christina's recipes use a handheld mixer and since I don't have one, I've found they can easily be done by hand with a whisk or a wooden spoon given a little patience) and had these 4 muffins fresh for breakfast.  I was impressed by how nicely risen they turned out, with a sturdy firm cake lightly infused with cinnamon and nutmeg, anchoring all the delicious sweet crumbly goodness.

Some mornings call for a muffin, or two.  Next time you feel like indulging in a sweet treat for breakfast, this is a great way to do that with a little restraint.  After all, it's only 4 muffins...but I think they're 4 fabulous ones!

Coffee cake muffins, stuffed...

I saw a recipe for coffee cake muffins on the Williams-Sonoma blog recently and thought I'd give them a try.  I'm always on the lookout for good muffin recipes.  I love to make them because they're usually quick & easy and versatile enough to have for breakfast, as a midday snack, or even as dessert.  I love a muffin for dessert, actually.

I don't know if it's a seasonal craving or what, but again, I'm talking about coffee cake muffins today while I posted about an old-fashioned coffee crumb cake this time last year.  Amazingly enough, I looked back and I'm posting this on the same day that I posted that coffee cake last year.  The timing wasn't intentional at all (same with the marble cupcakes previously), which makes me scratch my head a little but however coincidental it is, I'm just happy I made these little guys.  

Coffee cake can be really good, don't you think?  I love the streusel or crumb topping on them.  It adds a layer of sweetness, sometimes a little spice or nuttiness, and a nice coating of crunch that I adore.  There's a key element to this recipe that rounds out the whole thing and that's a little surprise stuffing inside...  

Having fun with the stuffing, using strawberry preserve, apricot preserve, Nutella, and chestnut cream

These muffins are quite moist, thanks in large part to the sour cream in them.  On their own, they don't actually have a ton of flavor or sweetness to them but that's okay because they're not meant to be plain.  The filling is a key component that adds another layer of flavor and sweetness.  The recipe suggests your preferred fruit preserve.  For my half-dozen muffins, I stuffed them with a variety of fillings.  Having some fun with it, I not only used apricot and strawberry preserves but I also went with Nutella and even tried a dollop of chestnut cream in one.

Aside from the filling, I played around with the recipe a bit more by substituting some of the all-purpose flour with whole wheat pastry flour.  I also added a touch of cinnamon to the streusel topping.  Surprisingly, it wasn't in the original recipe and though I'm not a big fan of too-much cinnamon, I seem to be craving it lately - at least in moderation.  I'm glad I used it because it added a warm flavor and scent to the muffins, and made the kitchen smell like cinnamon rolls while they were baking. 

It was fun digging into these muffins and taste-testing the different fillings.  The little guy called dibs on the Nutella ones and my husband really liked the one with apricot preserve.  I think they all came out great, and the filling of choice is simply a matter of preference so have fun with it.  I like the whole package but I have to admit I'm really partial to that sweet crumb topping!  These muffins go down easy with a cup of coffee or tea.

Yeasted coffee cake

My friends, let's talk about yeasted coffee cake!  Did you know there was such a thing?  Maybe it's just me but I'd never thought of it or had it before...at least not knowingly. 

Maybe it's not a huge stretch of the imagination when we think about yeasted sweet doughs we know and love - everything from cinnamon rolls to brioche, to babka. Well, now I've had yeasted coffee cake and I'll just say it is big-time tasty!  Not only that, this recipe is easy...oh so very dangerously easy...

This recent sweet breakfast came to be thanks to my son's love of these coffee cake muffins - we adore the small-batch recipe from Dessert for Two so much that I now have to double the recipe when I make it!  So I went looking for other ideas and came across a yeasted version of coffee cake that had me totally intrigued.  

Like many of Christina's recipe, it seemed almost too good to be true, too easy to be the case but again, the proof was in the results.  The process is so simple.  Just mix the ingredients together to form the dough, then spread it into a loaf pan (this is a small-batch recipe, perfect for feeding my family of 3) - no kneading involved!  All you need is about 45 minutes to an hour of time for proofing, to let the dough do its magic.  If you plan to serve it for breakfast, I can tell you it's a great do-ahead.  I made the dough and crumb topping the day before and stored everything in the refrigerator.  In the morning, I let the dough proof before popping it in the oven and we had warm, fragrant yeasted coffee cake to start the day with.

Through the magic of yeast, the cake is soft, fluffy, and a bit chewy; it has a wonderful light texture.  The crumb topping is what you know and love, with an added chocolate bonus!  I thought of the cinnamon rolls I make and how I always include a little chocolate in the filling; in that vein, I scattered a couple of tablespoons of mini chocolate chips among the streusel for this cake and it was lovely; I highly recommend it. 

If all that wasn't enough, drizzle a bit of glaze on top and there you have a sweet breakfast worthy of waking up early on a weekend morning for.  For us, it certainly perked up a cloudy Saturday morning.

Walnut olive oil cake

Making and tasting those wonderful olive oil muffins recently had made me eager to explore other recipes that involve baking with olive oil.

And when I was reading David Lebovitz's post/recipe for those muffins, I noticed someone mention another olive oil cake in the comments - a walnut olive oil cake recipe from Bon Appetit.  Since I love simple, no-frosting-necessary cakes packed with nuts, this walnut cake - one familiarly infused with orange zest - sounded right up my alley and I wanted to try it.  So I made a small version of it last Friday, for a little coffee date night I was having with my husband at home that evening.

So here's the thing.  I whipped up a small 6-inch version of the cake and after I did so, I actually thought I wasn't going to post it here.  You see, the cake is straightforward enough to make but I have to tell you: the middle sinks - rather pronouncedly - after it comes out of the oven.  Reviews for the cake warned about this - many people mentioned the sinking issue.  I wasn't overly concerned going in but sure enough, the center of my cake sank rather more than I expected as it cooled.  

But I changed my mind about posting it after I tasted it.  Because crater-in-the-middle or not, the cake was delicious.  The soft center, though sunken, is practically a selling point in moistness.  However, I almost favor the edges - comparatively dryer but with a lovely crust to it that's particularly full of toasted walnut flavor.  So in the end, the sunken center is not a deal-breaker for me and given the taste, I'd gladly make it again.

Now about that sunken middle.  I made sure the cake was cooked though (i.e., the cake tester came out clean).  The center is not wet, just moist.  Some have suggested in the recipe's comment section to reduce the amount of baking powder in the cake (and using room temperature eggs, which I did) to fix the problem.  I might tinker with that next time around but maybe it would be just as well to fill the "hole" with a small mound of orange-scented whipped cream if you're looking for a presentation "fix"? 

Chocolate chunk muffins (and a blueberry version, too)

I know that none of us who like to bake need a reason to try a muffin recipe.  Muffins and cookies are just fun to make, and too easy to eat!  So this is the latest muffin recipe I tried: chocolate chunk muffins from the Huckleberry cookbook.

I've never been to Huckleberry Bakery in Santa Monica but I sure would love to.  I was captivated by the beauty of their cookbook, and the food described in the pages. As expected, I gravitate towards simple recipes and chocolate chunk muffins...well, I can make and eat that any day, any time.  

Here's the thing: my chocolate chunk muffins looked nothing like the ones in the cookbook.  They didn't puff, dome, or crack open like I expected from looking at the photo in the book.  I know there are many possibilities for this - from differences in oven types to technique - but while I was disappointed at first, the taste more than made up for it.

These muffins/cupcakes have a wonderfully moist and tender texture - the kind that stays that way for days.  I'll give credit to yogurt and a bit of ground almonds for that. Baked goods made with yogurt don't ever seem to disappoint; it makes for a hefty muffin in the best way.  Because they are so moist and tender, you need to be a little careful to gently lift them out of the muffin tins after baking, especially since, in my case, the muffins spread and turn out with wide, flat tops (which make for very nice crusty, browned edges).

A hefty dose of chocolate chunks certainly doesn't hurt either.  But if chocolate muffins aren't your thing (I suppose that's a possibility), this muffin recipe is a good basis for other types of mix-in's - fruit instead of chocolate [see blueberry version near the end of the post].  But of course, chocolate is totally my thing so I happily went with it during my first go-round, mixing in a combination of 60 to 70% dark chocolate for a little bit of nuance. I added a touch of almond extract to my batch of muffins because of the ground almonds in the batter and because I was thinking about chocolate yogurt snack cakes, which I typically make for my little guy whenever I have extra whole milk yogurt around.

Eating a chocolate chunk muffin with a side of strawberries makes for a balanced breakfast, right?

Once you start, it's hard to stop eating these.  I found myself trying to get at every bite of chocolate encased within the bouncy moist cake.  Looks like I found another way to put my whole milk yogurt to good use!

Teenager in the house!

When June comes around, my mind is all wrapped up around my son's birthday.  Plus, June is always an exciting time - with Father's Day, the start of summer and the end of the school year.  The days are longer, and there's a different energy in the air around here.  

This year, my son's birthday was actually on Father's Day so it essentially eclipsed the holiday; of course, my husband didn't mind one bit.  And now, after the celebrations and affirmations, we officially have a teenager in the house!  It's hard to believe the infant who wouldn't nap for more than 25 minutes at a time is now nearly as tall as I am and morphing into a young man.  The same goes with his friends, many of whom we've known since kindergarten.  This growth is truly an amazing thing to witness.

I thought my son turning 10 was a big deal but at 13, it really felt like a *moment*.  Not to make it all about me...but I'm now the mom of a teenager and I approach it with equal parts trepidation and excitement.  In all seriousness, every day and every year is a gift and birthdays are a great time to celebrate a person and let them know how important they are and how much better the world is because they're in it.  

When it comes to birthday festivities, of course there's cake involved!  Why have one cake when you can have 3?  We started off with 2 ice cream cakes...because you can't beat that when it comes to kids birthdays, particularly those in the summer.  One came from a local ice cream shop and we picked another fun one from Haagen Dazs.  We cut into one during a cousins pizza party night we had at the house about a week before the birthday; we took the other one to a restaurant where we celebrated the birthday boy on the eve of his day with a few of his friends.

Finally, I had to make a cake, too, because I really wanted to.  I went with chocolate, of course.  The young fella and I are very much in sync when it comes to desserts and our preference for chocolate.  

I decided to make the fabulous Chocolate Heaven Cake from Cheryl Day.  I've adapted the recipe in the past as cupcakes and this time, I divided the original cake recipe in half to make a 6-inch round cake.  We didn't need a huge cake but I thought it would be fun to make it a tall one, 3 layers instead of the typical 2-layer I usually make.  

Having more cakes means more chances to celebrate, to sing happy birthday, and blow out birthday candles.  All the cakes were devoured and while you can never celebrate enough, hopefully the newly minted teenager felt the love in all the little ways we tried to show it.  Here's to our new teenager!  May this next chapter of his life be better and sweeter than ever.  

Super-streusel muffins

The combination of a snow day and the presence of extra sour cream in the refrigerator can be a dangerous thing.  It can lead to the making of decadent treats. For me, it led to the making of these "super-streusel" muffins a couple of weeks ago.

I think our winter started off pretty calmly...after last year's relentlessly long winter and countless snow storms, I initially thought that maybe we would be lucky this year.  Looking at it now, it seems we just had a late start!  We've had our share of snow, a couple of snow days/school closings, and in general, it has been extremely cold and icy out.  All that said, I'm really grateful we haven't had issues with power outages like we did a couple of years ago.  It's hard to complain when you're warm and toasty in your own home.

The cold leads me - and keeps me - in the kitchen, and it seems to be making us hungry all the time!  During a snow day, we seem to be doing the following on repeat: cook-eat-shovel.  I can barely keep up with my fellas' appetites!  But with all the calories we're burning from snow-shoveling, I think we can handle some hearty meals and a few sweet treats.  

And these muffins were one of the sweet treats I baked during the last snow day.  I had leftover sour cream after making the mini chocolate bundt cakes.  Since sour cream always makes me think of coffee cakes, it's no surprise I ended up here with what I'm calling "super-streusel" muffins.  I call them that because these muffins are loaded with streusel/crumb topping - the ratio of muffin to streusel topping is almost 1 to 1.  No one's going to complain about insufficient streusel here!

This recipe I used was intended for large, or jumbo, muffins.  Since I don't have a jumbo muffin tin, I improvised.  I used my regular-size muffin tin and set tall paper baking cups within the openings.  This gave me the height I needed to imbed all that streusel-goodness within.  I bought these paper cups eons ago (they must have been on sale) and I'm happy I finally had a reason to use them.  Alternatively, you could buy and use similar tall parchment cups or make your own!

Instead of following the recipe and doing a layering of streusel in the middle of the muffins and then placing more on top (which would work better if you had the jumbo tin), I kept all the streusel on top of the muffin batter.  To get it all on there, I lightly pressed some of the streusel on top of the batter first and then topped them off with more.

The cake itself is super moist and fluffy, the topping is simply sweet and crunchy. Frankly, these muffins have many of the elements that provide you with an express route to goodness in baked goods: butter, sugar, sour cream...It's full-on muffin indulgence for a snow day!

Easy puff pastry ("rough puff")

This may be my year of making things I didn't think I'd ever attempt to make! From bagels to English muffins (both of which I've now made several times), I moved on to...puff pastry.  At least, it's a simplified, easy puff pastry recipe - what's been called the "rough puff".

Incidentally, I can't stop saying "rough puff" after hearing the term.  So what makes it a rough puff?  Well, rather than having to go through the intricate and very time-consuming process of rolling out a butter packet and incorporating it into the dough, folding, rolling, and repeating the process several times between refrigeration (reasons I've never been tempted to try making puff pastry), this dough starts off a bit like pie dough and comes together in no time.  We're talking 15 minutes if you're efficient and maybe more like 30 minutes if you're not, like me!

This recipe is another I learned about from the fabulous site, Dessert for Two.  As you can gather from the photos above, cubes of butter are cut into the flour, then brought together with ice water to form a rough dough.  You roll the dough out into a rectangle, fold it like a letter, give it a quarter turn, then roll it out again.  Repeat this process of folding, turning, and rolling 6-7 times (no refrigerating in between) and you have your rough puff pastry dough.  

You don't need me to tell you there are so many uses for puff pastry.  I decided to take my rough puff and use it to make some shortcut chocolate croissants (or pains au chocolat) and chocolate-almond croissants.  I've done it before using store-bought puff pastry. 

True croissants involve leavened dough.  It's basically a cross between a yeasted dough and butter-layered dough like puff pastry.  The result is a stretchy, chewy, yet flaky texture, that's, of course, encased in buttery richness.  For a shortcut, puff pastry alone will due here.  I filled the dough generously with chopped dark chocolate, and for the almond version, I tucked in a bit of almond paste as well.   

The rough puff I made may not have boasted tons of layers but the result was very similar to what I get when I use store-bought puff pastry for this purpose.  My family really enjoy my endeavor and the rough puff was truly surprisingly easy. This experience may help me work up the courage to branch out even further...maybe try my hand at actually making a small batch of homemade croissants (or chocolate croissants) one of these days!

Baked banana chocolate-chip donuts

For no particular reason, I felt like taking my donut pan for a spin.  I've been wanting to make a banana bread-like version so I did just that.  On the eve of all the July 4th festivities to come, I thought these would make a quick breakfast in the morning (not to mention a good snack today) before we head out tomorrow for some fun.

These are simple baked banana donuts.  I started with this recipe but made a few tweaks.  I used a mix of all-purpose and whole wheat pastry flour, added ground ginger (because that's what I put in our favorite banana bread), and some mini chocolate chips.  I topped it with our usual, quick and easy, chocolate glaze.  It's all very easy and rather fun at that.  A donut pan gives us the option to eat our favorite treats in a different way.

I made use of the buttermilk in my fridge for this recipe.  I was a little concerned that there's no oil or butter in this donut batter but they turned out moist and flavorful so no worries afterall. 

Most baked donut recipes, like this one, will leave you with a little bit of extra batter. I filled my six donut molds and, with the rest of the batter, I made a few mini muffins.  They're almost like little donut holes.  

Given it's the 4th of July tomorrow, I made use of the appropriate sprinkles for the occasion.  Here's to kicking off the holiday weekend!

Matcha financiers...with white or milk chocolate filling

I have long been a fan of baked goods and desserts made with matcha.  This finely milled green tea powder provides a subtle dose of bitterness that mellows the sweetness of desserts and creates a kind of savory aspect to the sweet that works really well, in my opinion.

It took me long enough but I finally ordered some culinary-grade matcha (I knew just what to get thanks to Nami at Just One Cookbook) and started my green tea adventures with a batch of matcha financiers.

Bear with me as I repeat: I love financiers!  I bake mine in muffin tins and I think these French tea cakes are like the best muffins on earth.  Made with a generous amount of butter, as well as with ground nuts and egg whites, these little cakes bake up crisp along the edges and meltingly moist and flavorful inside.  I have made hazelnut ones and experimented with a pistachio version; now, I got to try a batch of green tea!

These green tea financiers did not disappoint; they were what a good financier should be - rich, moist, flavorful.  I usually make financiers with brown butter (a recipe from Paris Sweets that I'm devoted to) but that's not the case here, and I was afraid I'd miss it; happily, these were still rich, nutty, and delicious.  The green tea flavor is discernible but not overpowering (to me, anyway...if you're not sure how you feel about it, start with a smaller amount of matcha).  I think this is a great example of East meets West in the world of desserts.

I baked these matcha financiers in mini as well as regular-sized muffin tins. Generally, the little ones bake up more evenly throughout, whereas the larger ones tend to stay slightly wet in the very center.  Given their richness, mini's are a good option but my family and I actually really like the slightly under-cooked centers so we have a preference for the larger ones.  And like all financiers, these are best eaten fresh after the edges have cooled to an almost shattering crispness.  You can store the batter in the fridge for 3 days and bake them in batches.  I find that briefly re-heating leftovers the next morning in a warm, 325 degree oven, brings back that crisp freshness as well.  

Now onto the filling option.  Dorie Greenspan (whose recipe this is, and who I kind of think of as the American authority on baking French desserts at home) reminded me that matcha pairs really well with chocolate.  It made me think of green tea Kit Kat bars, which my son first tried while we were on vacation in Canada and loves to relive how good they are!  So, I went ahead and gave the chocolate combination a try. First, white chocolate...

And then I tried milk chocolate as well...