I learned to love almond pastry confections at my mother’s knee. More precisely, at the basket of almond rolls she painstakingly made each Christmas. These rolls consist of rich rough puff pastry, laminated with almond sugar, cut and shaped into twists before baking. Once baked and cooled, they are topped with almond butter icing. To this day, we eat them for breakfast on Christmas morning (and all through the day, TBH.) Am I going to post this recipe? Um…no. You’d take one look at it and run for the bakery. I make them only the one time of year, myself.
But they’ve inspired me to make various breads, cakes and quick breads with the almond flavor profile for years. If you are a fan of almond, you just might get inspired to tackle these almond poppyseed muffins. And if you’re not, you should try them anyway. They might change your mind.
I developed this recipe years ago, when I didn’t mind a muffin masquerading a bit as a breakfast cupcake. I have “healthified” them somewhat; less butter, less sugar, more whole grain flour and nut flour. They are still an indulgence. Breakfast deserves to be indulgent every now and again, or so I justify them to myself. But really, they are a favorite of mine and worth the occasional splurge. They are absolutely delicious and make a great addition to whatever else you are having for breakfast or brunch.
If you’ve made a cake, the method will be familiar. The butter, cream cheese, sugar and eggs are creamed together until fluffy. The dry ingredients are combined, and added alternately with almond milk. An almond sugar streusel is folded in just prior to baking. It’s a tender, fluffy muffin, rich with layers of almond flavor. This was the basic recipe until recently, when I tossed in a few tablespoons of poppy seeds, adding a woodsy counterbalance to the sweetness of the almonds. I’d happily eat them either way, but the poppy seeds are definitely worth your while.
Weather-wise, it’s been a gorgeous late winter and spring in the desert southwest. But summer, otherwise known as hell, has broken loose here. There will be much less baking done to keep the house cooler, so this is probably my last baking post for a bit. I’ll be looking in cooler directions for recipe inspiration. Better jump on this one now…
Almond Poppyseed Muffins
Ingredients
Streusel
- 2 tbsp whole wheat pastry flour
- 1 tbsp flaxseed meal
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1/4 cup almond paste
- 1 tbsp butter
Muffin Batter
- 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
- 1/2 cup unbleached all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup almond flour
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 cup softened butter
- 6 oz light cream cheese Neufchatel cheese
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 3/4 tsp almond extract
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 6 tbsp beaten egg
- 1/2 cup almond milk
- 3 tbsp poppyseeds
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Coat the cups of a 12-muffin baking pan with non-stick spray.
- Place all of the streusel ingredients in the work bowl of the food processor. Pulse until the butter and almond paste is the size of rice grains. Alternately, stir the dry ingredients together and cut in the almond paste and butter until butter is in small bits. Set aside.
- For the batter, stir the flours, salt and baking powder together in a medium bowl. Cream the softened butter, cream cheese, sugar and extracts together by hand or using a mixer, until well blended and creamy. Add the beaten egg and beat until blended. Add the dry ingredient mix alternately with the milk to make a smooth batter. Fold in the reserved streusel and poppy seeds. The batter will be thick.
- Portion the batter evenly into the muffin cups. Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, til firm to the touch and starting to brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for several minutes, then loosen from the tin and pop out of the cups.
Notes
