My suitcase was 20 pounds overweight when I came home from the States this past visit. It could have been heavier, if there hadn't been an extra (on top of the $75 overweight fee) $100 fee for a bag over 70 pounds. This is not an unusual story.
I visit my family in the US about 3 times a year, and usually take two huge suitcases with me, because I know I'll be stocking up when I'm home. On what? On kitchen stuff. How do you think I got my Kitchen Aid stand mixer here?
Well, this time I decided to bring home 11 cookbooks (along with other kitchenware). Huge, mostly hardcover, cooking bibles. And I love them so. Usually, I limit myself to, say, a reasonable number, like 2 or 3. But this time I settled on a pretty number, 6. Then there was the cookbook I had ordered last time but didn't come on time, the King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion that my sister gave me for my birthday, and another birthday cookbook (on top of the two he had already given me) from Gustavo. Plus, two more that I bought in Border's the day before I left, as my mom, sister, and I were waiting in the mall to watch "Eat, Pray, Love."
I had only taken one suitcase home this time because the airline fees are now so expensive. I got lucky, and on the way there they didn't even charge me the one checked bag. I was sure I would have no problem fitting all that I had ordered, along with some things friends asked me to bring back with them, in my one huge suitcase. Plus, just to be prepared, I took a carry-on suitcase that is the maximum limit size, and my North Face backpack, which can easily fit a few cookbooks.
I was wrong. When I got to the check-in line and weighed my big blue suitcase, it was 58 pounds. We were off to a bad start. So I just decided to load the thing up even more, with the 11 cookbooks that were divided between the carry-on wheelie suitcase and my backpack. Even then, I could only toss in 4 more cookbooks before it got to the 70 pound limit.
What, you might ask, do I actually do with all of these cookbooks? I read them. I devour them. I make a small percentage of the recipes in them, but it's only due to a lack of time and/ or ingredients. So many cookbooks, so little time. Or, if you prefer, so many things to cook/ bake, so little time.
As it happens, I don't have class on Wednesdays or Thursdays, which gives me a nice break and some time to make the house smell (hopefully) yummy with flavors from the kitchen. I was sitting down on my sofa, browsing through cookbooks, when I suddenly had the urge to bake. It was Dorie Greenspan's Baking from my home to yours that really did it. Seeing as I'm sort of on a diet* (yes, I am, and it's not a great combination with loving to bake), I don't keep bakeable goods around the house. However, I stumbled upon a perfect tea time recipe that was just sweet enough to calm down that big 'ol tooth of mine, and I altered the ingredients slightly to fit what's in my cupboard. Feel free to substitute other spices for the cinnamon, or other types of nuts for the pecans.
*By diet, I must clarify what I mean. I don't really believe in diets, especially ones like the low-carb diets and those silly drink juice for a few days ones. However, I do believe in eating healthy, balanced, and in moderation, and for me, that means avoiding as much as I can the 1-cup-of-sugar and 1-cup-of-butter recipes.
Anyways, after a few adaptations, this is the perfect after school or rainy day snack, and can also be eaten for breakfast. It makes your home smell homey and inviting. If you're on a "diet" like me, give away at least half of the muffins to save yourself from temptation.
Cinnamon and pecan crumb muffins
Adapted from Dorie Greenspan's Baking from my home to yours
These are delightfully cinnamon-y muffins without being overpowering. They are simple to make; it took me just about as long to make them as it did to preheat the oven (which isn't saying much for my oven, but hey).
Ingredients
Streusel:
½ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup packed light brown sugar
Loaded ½ tsp ground cinnamon
5 TBSP very cold unsalted butter, cut into bits*
For the muffins:
2 cups all-purpose flour
½ cup sugar
1 TBSP (yes, that's right) baking powder
Loaded ½ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp salt
¼ cup caramel sugar (use light brown sugar if you don't have caramel sugar)
1 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 large eggs
¾ cup whole milk (I had none, so I mixed mostly skimmed with a tad of heavy cream)
¼ tsp pure vanilla extract
¾ cup pecans, toasted and chopped**
Preheat oven to 375F and place rack in the middle of the oven. Grease a regular size (12 molds) muffin pan.
Make the streusel: Measure out the flour, brown sugar and allspice in a small bowl and sift them through your fingers to combine. Add bits of very cold butter and toss to coat. Work them into the dry ingredients very gently until you've got irregularly sized and shaped crumbs. Put in the refrigerator until you are ready to use.
*Note: my streusel was a failure. It turned into caramelized and hard sugary topping that seeped into the muffins. (They were still delicious, though). This is probably because my butter 1) was not cut into small enough bits; and 2) warmed up too much outside/ when I was working it with my hands. Avoid these mistakes by cutting the stick of butter into a small dice with a bench knife, then returning it to the refrigerator for a little while to cool off again. Also, don't overwork the butter when you are making the streusel crumbs.
Make the muffins: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Stir in the caramel sugar. In another bowl, whisk together the melted butter (it's important that it has been cooled to room temperature), eggs, milk and vanilla until well combined. Pour the liquid mixture over the dry mixture and very gently but quickly stir/ fold mixture to blend with a rubber spatula or a whisk. Add the toasted and chopped nuts and gently fold them into the batter.
Don't worry if the batter is lumpy. Do not over-mix, it will create tough muffins. Divide the batter evenly between the muffin cups (they will be about ⅔ of the way full). Sprinkle the streusel over the muffins, then use your fingers to press the crumbs gently into the batter.
Bake for 20 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean and the tops are golden brown. Cool on a wire rack before removing the muffins carefully from their molds. These are best served hot, the first day they are made. However, you can reheat them for 15 seconds in the microwave and they will still be good.
**Note: How to toast nuts. Place whole nuts (in this case, pecans) on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake them in a 350F oven for about 8 minutes or until slightly and fragrant. I usually do this when I'm preheating the oven. The pecans were a bit quicker to toast, so I probably would only toast them about 6 minutes next time. When they are cool, chop coarsely on a cutting board.
Comments