Coffee Break Muffins

Today I was struck by the inexplicable urge to make muffins. I don't usually eat muffins, but I recently won Dorie Greenspan's Baking From My Home to Yours from CB's blogaversary giveaway and I'm still trying to figure out how to plan my schedule so that I eat on a fairly regular basis throughout the busy busy day instead of consuming the contents of my fridge in one fell swoop when I finally get home at night. So I was thinking maybe muffins might be something I can eat while I'm running from one school to the next. (Which, by the way, if you are at all interested in my reflections and thoughts on schools that I go to or teach I have a new blog that I had to start for a class.)

I usually avoid muffins because really they're a baby step away from cake and eating cake on a regular basis makes me fat. Really. I have the metabolism of a sloth. You know those furry things that live in trees in the jungle and move soooo slooooow that nobody really notices them. Yeah I have a metabolism like that. But, these muffins seem to be a little on the lighter side.

There's no milk in them either (which is a big plus in our little house). Instead these wonderfully tasty muffins use coffee for the liquid and have an extra little shot of espresso just to ramp up the coffee flavor. Yeah, I adjusted the recipe to add just a little more espresso. I figure these muffins might help me stay awake on the long drive back home at night. And because I've heard that protein helps people feel full, I added some walnuts. And Holy Moly! These muffins are really great! They form a nice little crust that gets a little bit of crunch to it. I think I might enjoy my running around when I get a muffin like this to snack on. I'm so glad I won this cookbook! If you don't already own it you should go buy it.

And don't forget to check back on Tuesday for the Big Blog Giveaway! There's going to be some cool stuff.

Coffee Break Muffins

adapted a touch from Baking From My Home to Yours

2 cups all purpose flour

1/3 cup sugar

2 Tbsp instant espresso powder

1 Tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp salt

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1 cup strong coffee, cooled

1 stick (8 Tbsp) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1 large egg

1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup walnuts, chopped

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Fit 12 molds in a regular size muffin tin with paper cups.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, espresso powder, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Stir in the brown sugar, making sure there are no lumps. In another bowl, stir together the coffee, butter, egg and vanilla until well combined. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, stirring to combine. Do not over mix. Fold in the walnuts.

Divide the batter among the 12 cups and bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely on a rack.