Before dinner Friday night, I wanted to squeeze in some baking time. Carter suggested making something “fast” like brownies: “I’ll just get out the brown brownie flour [aka brownie mix], and I can follow the recipe. It’s easy, Mommy.” So much for instilling in my child any preference for from-scratch over from-the-box brownies! But we were out of brownie mix anyway. (Note to self: add to Costco list.)
Our next choice—peanut-butter blondies from Real Food for Healthy Kids
I don’t want to give the impessione we “settled” for sour cream–maple muffins, even though we chose this Williams Sonoma recipe partly because we had all the ingredients. They’re much too good for that. The maple syrup adds a subtle flavor that’s agreeable with kids, but sophisticated enough for adults, and the muffins themselves are rich yet light. Taste for yourself, and let us know what you think.
One of the satisfying things about baking with kids, in addition to the actual process, is seeing their pride of ownerships in the end result. The muffins were just out of the pan cooling as we were trying to get dinner on the table. Carter took it upon himself to “serve one to everyone,” proudly placing a muffin on each of our plates, his own contribution to our family meal.
Sour Cream–Maple Muffins
1 3/4 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup maple syrup
1 cup sour cream
1 egg
Preheat oven to 400ºF. Butter or coat standard-size muffin tins with cooking spray.
In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, beat the butter until smooth, then slowly add the maple syrup, beating constantly. Beat in the sour cream and egg. Add the combined dry ingredients and stir until just blended (do not overmix).
Spoon into the prepared muffin tins (makes 12–16 muffins) and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean, 15–18 minutes. Cool in tins for 5 minutes, then remove.
Adapted from Muffins & Quick Breads (Williams-Sonoma Kitchen Library)
