Tuesday, November 6, 2012

TWD: Buttermilk Crumb Muffins


This week's Tuesdays with Dorie featured a simply delightful morning pastry from Marion Cunningham.  These buttermilk crumb muffins were a cinch to put together and, although unassuming and unpretentious in appearance, were undeniably delicious.  Sometimes the simplest ingredients, once stirred together in a certain fashion and combined with other, equally humble pantry staples, can produce a truly memorable treat.

After attending Mass early Sunday morning, my husband and I whipped these together in a jiffy.  We decided to add blueberries to half the batter and made 12 regular size muffins and 2 jumbo muffins.  Instead of shortening (I never have that stuff in the house), I chose to use butter.  The most tedious part about the whole recipe was rubbing the butter into the batter.  Since my butter had been chilled, it took quite a while for the warmth from my fingers to soften the butter enough to properly rub it into the flour/sugar mixture.  And by "quite a while," I mean about 5 minutes.  But, it seemed like forever.  I am usually impatiently hungry on Sunday mornings.


Little man ate two of these the second they emerged from the oven.  In total silence, he ate them with a fork (one of his quirks...heaven forbid his little hands should get dirty!) straight out of the wrapper.  With his cheeks still stuffed full with the remnants of his muffin, he held his plate up and, with a muffled voice, asked: "More...cake?"


I loved these muffins.  I cannot decide whether I prefer the plain muffins or the blueberry version.  They were both delightful. Paul's teeth were blue by the end of breakfast, so I don't think there is any doubt as to which version he liked best!

This was a great recipe and one we will definitely be making again. Next time, I might just dump the whole batter into a cake pan and make it coffee cake style.  Maybe this weekend...

If you would like to give these muffins a try (and I really think you should!), head on over to Alisa's Blog.  She was our host for this week!

14 comments:

  1. Your muffins look great. Seriously! I think these would be really good with blueberries too or apples. yum.

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  2. They look perfect! What a cute little one--he looks pretty determined.

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  3. Monica,
    I love the idea to add blueberries to them, they look wonderful.
    Your little boy is adorable and I bet you didn't need to clean underneath his chair...no crumbs left!

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  4. Oooh! Blueberries! Your muffins look wonderful!

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  5. too cute!
    Well done on the obviously delicious muffins! :)

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  6. Great photos but I was not that thrilled with the taste though.

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  7. Little Man is adorable! I too used butter and added blueberries to half. I did not care for them, but the boys at the shop loved them. Especially the blueberry muffin.

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  8. Blueberries are a great idea. Your muffins look beautiful.

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  9. these muffins do need something extra.. and I love blueberries.. so thats like a perfect idea for me!! yours looking really good!

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  10. Blueberries sound like the perfect addition. Great thinking! My little man loved them, too, though he has no qualms about getting his hands (and face, and floor) covered in crumbs.

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  11. Butter is always better. Still, I felt obliged to use shortening at least once. While the shortening does make these muffins nice and light, mine weren't particularly flavorful. Looks like yours had no flavor shortage! Next time I'll use butter too.

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  12. I've been craving blueberry muffins! I wish I thought of mixing up half a batch too!
    Your muffins look great.

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  13. Lovely photos of your muffins...crunchy tops...yum. Paul is adorable!

    Carmen
    http://bakingismyzen.wordpress.com/2012/11/06/twd-baking-with-julia-walnut-coconut-buttermilk-crumb-muffins/

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  14. Thanks Everyone for the sweet comments! We have certainly enjoyed baking along with everyone!

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