Pecan Sour Cream Muffins

I did a lot of baking last weekend. There was Saturday morning breakfast, a Saturday evening dinner party, and a Sunday afternoon barbecue--all great occasions to bake. And then my life got awfully busy with really fun things--outings to Paris and dinners with friends and days that began at 5:30 and ended at 12:30--both AM.

So now, when I should be grading papers and/or doing grocery shopping and/or doing even more baking for our guests, I'm instead trying to catch up on the blog.

Let me just quote Julia on these muffins, if I may: "OMG OMG OMG SOOOOOO delicious!!!" I may have missed a few exclamation points there. She's right--this muffin doesn't look like a whole lot, but it tastes really good.

Like my new silicon muffin cups? Very springy, I think. Kind of a pain to wash, but the muffin pops right out.

This muffin batter goes together more like a cake batter (cream butter and sugar, add eggs, alternate wet and dry ingredients) than like a muffin batter, which can be a downer early on a Saturday morning when you don't really want the noise of a mixer, but I see no other downside.

So here's the recipe. Make these if you want a lot of nutty flavor in the morning.

Pecan Sour Cream Muffins

1/4 c. (2 oz.) butter, room temperature (if you think about it, put the butter out the night before)

1 t. baking powder

1/2 t. baking soda

Generous pinch salt

Generous pinch nutmeg (freshly grated!)

2/3 c. (4.5 oz.) sugar

2 large eggs

3/4 c. (6 oz.) sour cream

1-1/3 c. (5.3 oz.) flour (some whole wheat is fine)

1-1/3 c. (5.5 oz.) toasted chopped pecans

12 toasted pecan halves

Preheat the oven to 450. Line or grease 12 muffin cups. Cream the butter with the baking powder, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg. Gradually add the sugar and beat another minute or two. Then beat in the eggs one at a time, beating until well incorporated after each. On low speed, add the flour in three additions alternating with the sour cream in two additions. Stir in the pecans.

Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups and top with the toasted pecan halves. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the muffins spring back when gently pressed. These will dome up more than your normal muffins, and that's OK.

Devour while warm.