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September 13, 2017

Almond Poppyseed Muffins


Every so often, I work as a catering assistant, and here's one thing I learned right away: by the time the night is through, whatever we're serving will inevitably become The Thing I Most Want to Eat in the World.

At a recent wedding, the cake was an almond poppyseed affair, and the minute I was able to swipe a sample from a layer that had been cut and served and whisked away to our prep station, I began fantasizing about this cake. Specifically, about eating it. More specifically, about eating quite a lot of it.

But since neither a wedding nor a wedding cake were in my near future, I needed to apply this combination to something that would fit into regular life. Enter Sunday-morning breakfast. I often make muffins for my family while we're rushing around trying to get ready for church and negotiating face time at the house's "best" mirror. 

I don't make muffins for breakfast before church because I need one more thing to do on Sunday mornings (a.k.a., the time of the week when the members of my family generally like each other the least but must, by the time we pull into the church parking lot, pretend we like each other the most). I do it because making them on Sundays means I have leftovers for Mondays (a.k.a., the day of the week we most need mood-enhancing baked goods for breakfast).

After tasting and obsessing over that wedding cake, I tweaked one of my favorite muffin recipes and ended up with something that had the soul of the cake but the applicability of something I can legitimately serve for breakfast. 

My family liked them quite a lot the first time I made them, thanks for asking, AND we managed to make it to church on time with a minimum of discord. Which is as much of a Sunday-morning miracle as I'm likely to see again anytime soon.



Almond Poppyseed Muffins {print}

2 cups all-purpose flour (sometimes I substitute 1/2 white whole wheat flour, but don't get too grainy with these...you'll lose the wedding cake-esque quality)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon (yes) baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon poppyseeds
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 egg white
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup plain yogurt OR ricotta cheese
2/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon pure almond extract

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly coat a 12-cup muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray OR line with cupcake liners.

Whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and poppyseeds in a large bowl. (I love to use my batter bowl for this, along with about a zillion other kitchen tasks.) Make a well in the center and set aside. 

In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients (egg through extract). Pour into the well in your dry ingredients, and gently fold everything together just until you don't see any more dry mixture. Do NOT attempt to de-lump your batter. Lumpy muffin batter is happy muffin batter, and it will make you a happy muffin-eater.

Divide your batter among 12 muffin cups, and bake for 12-18 minutes, just until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out mostly clean.

Remove from oven and cool 5 minutes in the pan before removing to a wire rack. Enjoy while warm or cool completely before storing or freezing in an airtight container. Makes 12 muffins.



Previous post that might have something to do with this one:Four Kitchen Tool Must-Haves Plus One I Just Really Like

This post may have been shared at some of these blog parties.


37 comments:

  1. OhMyGoodness, these sound delicious! And I will be making them this Friday night, because that is when my oven is already hot for the pizza and also guarantees that my Gs will be well fed at the rink on Saturday morning, when I am rushing around getting myself ready and have no time to worry about feeding them. Besides, we go so early, we usually stick Gv in the car while she's still asleep and then a huge batch of muffins gives her something to munch on while trying to keep warm. :)

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    1. Well, hello my storm-weathering friend! How ARE you? What a lovely treat to hear from you today. And AWWWW!!! The very idea of your sweet Gs (side note: HOW CUTE IS THAT??!!)munching on these muffins just makes my heart so happy. I do hope Mr. G knows he has the best wife ever and that Little G knows the same about her mom. Hugs to you, and thanks so much for making my day--as always. xoxo

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  2. Now you've got my mouth watering...and I just finished breakfast!! Think I'll have to give these a try soon - they sound delicious!!

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    1. Thank you so much for that sweet compliment, my friend! I knew I was onto something good when my baby asked for these for her 14th birthday breakfast! Move over, Double Chocolate Crunch Muffins! ;)

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  3. Elizabeth, these looks so good! I always find myself thinking I should try to recreate dishes I've eaten, but never get around to it. I can't wait to give these a try! I'm visiting you today from Friday Frivolity Linkup.

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    1. Aw, thank you so much, Debbie! I know what you mean about recipe recreation, and I usually don't get around to it, either. ;) But that almond poppyseed wedding cake grabbed me so much (and I only got a little teaser taste of it) that something had to be done. :) Thanks so much for stopping by...I love #FridayFrivolity!

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  4. Your Almond Poppyseed Muffins look fantastic! Thanks so much for sharing with us at Full Plate Thursday,we are so happy to have you join us. Have a wonderful week and come back to see us real soon!
    Miz Helen

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    1. Thank you, Miz Helen...and thank you as always for so graciously hosting Full Plate Thursday!

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  5. These sound great, Elizabeth. Oddly enough, neither my husband nor I like cake. The girls won't eat it either. I might try these with all the flour being white whole wheat to intentionally avoid the cake-like texture. :-)
    Do you think I could use sour cream in place of the yogurt/ricotta?

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    1. Great idea for the texture, Shannon! And YES, absolutely...sour cream would be a fantastic swap for the yogurt or ricotta! Honestly, these are mostly an almond flavor delivery system for me. I am crazy about it! If you try these with your changes, be sure to let me know how they turn out. Thanks so much for stopping by!

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