Snickerdoodle Muffins
A riff on the cookies topped with sugar and cinnamon, these muffins sing of simple flavors that children love. The recipe, as well as those that follow, calls for unsalted butter. Pastry chefs and bakers prefer unsalted butter because it is fresher and has an appealing, cultured taste, and the amount of salt can be better controlled. Often, I only have salted butter in the fridge, so I use it and omit the salt in the recipe. Shhh, don’t tell my pastry chef friends.
Yield: 12 muffins
INGREDIENTS
Nonstick cooking spray, cupcake liners 3/4 cup plus 2/3 cup granulated sugar, divided use
2 cups plus 1/3 cup all-purpose flour, divided use
1 tablespoon plus 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, divided use
1stick plus 1/2 stick unsalted butter, room temperature, divided use
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3 large eggs
1 cup sour cream
1teaspoon vanilla extract
PROCEDURE
1: Adjust oven rack to middle position. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 12cup muffin pan with paper or foil liners. Spray nonstick cooking spray on liners. Make the crumble. Mix 2/3 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour and 1tablespoon cinnamon in small bowl with a whisk. Add 1/2 stick butter and mash with a spoon to make a crumbly mixture. Set aside. Place remaining 1stick butter in a microwave-safe bowl and melt in microwave (get it just hot enough to barely melt).
2: In a large bowl, mix 2 cups flour, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, baking powder, salt and baking soda; whisk to combine. In medium bowl, whisk eggs, remaining 3/4 cup sugar, melted butter, sour cream and vanilla. Add egg mixture to flour mixture and stir with a rubber spatula to combine. Stir in half of the crumble mixture into the batter.
3: Spoon batter evenly into muffin cups, filling them two-thirds of the way (an ice cream scoop is handy for this). Top with remaining crumble. Bake until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean, 25-28minutes. Remove pan from oven. Let the muffins cool 5 minutes in the pan, then remove from pan and let cool completely on rack.