Glazed Streusel Coffee Muffins

Yesterday we went to the old circus here in Russia. We had so much fun! I loved the sea lions...they all had little personalities, clapping their flippers, bobbing their heads, doing tricks (or refusing to do them)...basically, begging for treats! They were so funny!

Anyways...I just had to share that. Now onto the muffins!

These muffins are perfectly moist when they're just a little bit warm from the oven—and then there's the bonus of the warmth bringing out the coffee flavor. That said, do not hesitate to gobble these down as soon as they cool down enough so as not to burn your tongue.

And there are also so many other layers of flavors, too—spices, maple syrup...and chocolate, if you're like me! I went all out with the streusel and glaze, and then took a step farther with the chocolate chips. Let's just say these weren't the healthiest muffins ever!

While these take a little time to make, the end result is worth it.

Streusel Coffee Muffins with Maple Glaze

Makes 12-13

Ingredients:

Streusel:

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup tightly packed light brown sugar

1/2 tsp. ground allspice

5 Tbsp. butter (cold and cut into bits)

Muffins:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/3 cup sugar

1 Tbsp. espresso powder

1 Tbsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp. sea salt

1/3 cup tightly packed light brown sugar

1 cup strong brewed coffee (cooled)

8 Tbsp. (1 stick or 1/2 cup) melted butter (cooled)

1 egg

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Maple Glaze

3/4 cup powdered sugar, sifted

about 6-8 Tbsp. pure maple syrup

Directions:

Streusel:

1. Whisk the flour, brown sugar, and allspice in a small bowl until blended.

2. Add the bits of cold butter and toss to coat, then use your fingers to work the butter into the dry ingredients until you've got irregularly shaped crumbs.

3. Cover and refrigerate while you make the muffins.

Muffins:

1. Preheat the oven to 400F. Butter, spray, or line 12 molds of a regular sized muffin pan. Set aside.

2. In a large bowl whisk together the flour, sugar, espresso powder, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.

3. Stir in the brown sugar, making certain that there are no lumps.

4. In another bowl, whisk the coffee, melted butter, egg, and vanilla extract together until well combined.

5. Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients and, with the whisk or a rubber spatula, gently but quickly stir to blend. The batter may be lumpy; do not over-mix.

6. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups.

7. Remove the streusel from the refrigerator. Sprinkle it over each muffin, then use your fingers to gently press the crumbs into the batter.

8. Bake 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean.

9. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for 5 minutes before carefully removing each muffin from it's mold. Remove muffins and cool completely on racks.

10. Add glaze if desired.

Glaze:

1. In a medium bowl combine the sifted powdered sugar and maple syrup.

2. Mix, adding more maple syrup if needed, to achieve a smooth, sticky glaze. Drizzle over the cooled muffins with a whisk or fork.

Recipe from: http://www.unegaminedanslacuisine.com/2009/12/streuseled-coffee-muffins-with-maple.html

Recipe adapted from: Baking From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan

Waffles

American holiday + school holiday = sleeping in.

At least for the rest of my family. I think we were a little tired out from shopping at Ikea for 4 hours yesterday...that store is humungous!

But I woke up this morning ahead of them, and was hungry. I could tell my mom was going to make waffles, so I mixed them up instead. I did not want to wait two more hours for someone to make me waffles!

These waffles are great because they aren't too sweet, so while they taste good plain, you can also put nutella, jam, syrup, or whatever else makes you happy on them. In the summer strawberries and whipped cream is really yummy!

Some time ago, we discovered that these also freeze well. My mom always makes extra for the freezer so that we can have waffles on school mornings, too!

Waffles

Makes 6 Belgian waffles

Ingredients:

4 eggs (separated)

2 cups milk

3 cups flour

5 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

2 tsp. sugar

2/3 cup melted butter

Directions:

1. Beat egg yolks 1 minute.

2. Add milk and beat 1 more minute.

3. Add dry ingredients and beat 4 minutes on high.

4. Add butter and mix until blended.

5. Beat egg whites until soft peaks are formed. Fold egg whites into flour and milk mixture.

6. Cook in waffle iron; these waffles work best in a Belgian waffle iron, but also work in a normal waffle iron.

*Note: These freeze well. Reheat in microwave for a softer waffle, and in the toaster or toaster oven for a crisper waffle.

Recipe from: Margie DeVries

Popovers

Don't these popovers look fancy? Not to mention complicated!

But these could not be any simpler—all you do is take a bowl, dump the ingredients in, mix it up, and bake!

I was a little tired this morning and forgot to turn the oven on before starting the popovers. And 450ºF takes a loooong time to heat up to.

But like I said, this recipe is great...especially for those tired mornings! It turns out, you have to put the popovers into a cold oven. Perfect!

Popovers are a actually pretty healthy, because you don't add any sugar...unless you put jam on them like me. Yum! These are best straight out of the oven, but ours got a little cold while I was taking pictures. Oops. Oh well, they reheat alright too! Popovers have a slightly eggy taste, and are nice and gold and crunchy on the outside, with a soft inside—which makes them so good to sink your teeth into.

These will impress anyone! Don't worry if you don't have a popover pan, I used a normal muffin pan. Butter it very well!

Popovers

Makes 10

Ingredients:

2 eggs

1 cup milk

1 Tbs. butter, melted

1 cup flour

1/4 tsp. salt

Directions:

1. Butter muffin pans, custard cups, or cast-iron gem pans.

2. Mix the eggs, milk, butter, flour, and salt just until throuoghly blended, without overbeating. (a 1-quart glass measure with a spout is good for mixing, because you can pour the batter right into the pans)

3. Half fill the prepared pans, and set them into a cold oven.

4. Turn the heat to 450ºF  and bake for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350ºF and bake about 15 minutes longer, until they are puffed and golden brown on top.

5. Remove from the pans and serve piping hot.

Whole-Wheat Popovers

Use 2/3 cup whole-wheat flour and 1/3 cup all-purpose flour instead of 1 cup all-purpose flour. These will not rise as high as regular popovers.

Red Velvet Cookies

These are so good they're taking over Michigan!

I've been saving this recipe for awhile in anticipation of February and Valentine's Day. But these turned out twice as good as I expected!

I used only 1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips and added 3/4 cup white chocolate chips. Turns out the white chocolate chips made the cookies taste like Oreos! Surprisingly though, the cookie dough doesn't taste as good as the real cookies...I guess that's for the better.

Red Velvet Cookies

Recipe from: http://sallysbakingaddiction.com/2013/12/13/red-velvet-chocolate-chip-cookies/