Pecan Streusel Muffins

Ok I already have a recipe for streusel muffins, so why did I make these??  The following were ALL on the ingredient list: sour cream, pecans (not pronounced PE-cans like Paula Dean, more like paaachans with a nice southern drawl), and cocoa powder.  All favorites of mine and left out of the last recipe and they were filled with some sugary nutty goodness so they have a surprise in the middle.  And I got to use my new ice cream scooper to fill the muffin cups. 

  

Pecan Streusel Muffins

For the filling:

1/3 c. brown sugar

½ c. chopped pecans

1 t. unsweetened cocoa powder

1 t. ground cinnamon

For the topping:

1/3 c. brown sugar

¼ c. flour

1 t. cinnamon

2 T. cold butter, cut into small pieces

For the muffins:

2 c. cake flour

1 t. baking powder

¼ t. baking soda

2 t. ground cinnamon

½ t. salt

1 c. sour cream

½ c. melted butter

½ c. milk

2 eggs

1 c. sugar

1 t. vanilla extract

Now how I went about this bright and early on a Sunday morning.  First, I made the topping in one bowl and the filling in another since they have of the same ingredients.  For the topping, just use your fingers to incorporate the butter into the sugar until it’s all clumped up.  Then, preheat the oven to 375 and grease a muffin tin (recipe makes 12 muffins).  To make the batter – in a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt until well combined.  In a separate small bowl, whisk together the sour cream, butter, milk, eggs, sugar, and vanilla.  If you can get the milk at room temp, it will help things out.  Mine was cold and kinda re-solidified the melted butter, but everything still tasted amazing.  Add the liquid mixture into the dry ingredients and using a wooden spoon or spatula, stir just until well combined making sure you’ve scraped everything off the bottom.  Using a super cool ice cream scooper (or a spoon), fill each muffin cup about ¼ full.  Then add in about 1 T. of the pecan filling and then fill the cups with the remaining batter. Top with the crumbled topping and bake for 20-23 minutes until they are finished!

So my obsession with sour cream continues.  It adds so much moisture to these muffins and along with the hidden treat of pecans and goodness, these muffins are vastly different from my previous streusel muffins.  The cinnamon flavor is strong in these, so if you don’t like it, then I would steer clear.  But for me, I love any excuse to basically be eating dessert for breakfast.  Since I am all alone now and as much as I can eat, I can’t tuck away a dozen muffins all on my own, I also have a nice freezer bag full of these tasty treats to be enjoyed whenever!