A Maple Walnut Muffin Sized For One Special Father

 

Happy Father's Day to all you dad's out there!  I know some people think that days like this are just a huge money grab for retailers, but I don't care.  

I love to celebrate my dad each year in a special way.  Oh, I know, I do love and honor him every day, but what does it hurt to have an extra special day set aside just for dads.  Not a thing!  Dad's are worth it! 

 

I am about 3 in this photo

Because I am the oldest child, I got to enjoy my father for three full years before anyone else came along. I love my father so much.  

It is from him that I got my love of reading, my brown eyes, my dark hair, my easy-going nature and my bum chin!  

Another thing I got from him is everything Maple Walnut!  It is one of his favorite flavor combinations and it is one of mine as well!

 

I wanted to make something special for him for Father's Day that I knew he would enjoy!  What better than a deliciously tasty muffin that is perfectly sized for one.  And not just any muffin either, but one which is filled with the flavors my father enjoys most in the world. Maple and Walnuts!

A special treat for someone to be spoiled with, something that is all their own!  At the age of 91 he surely deserves to be spoilt for sure. I know his eyes will light up when he sees this! Knowing it's just for him will make it even better!

 

WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE A MAPLE WALNUT MUFFIN FOR DAD

Just a few simple ingredients and not a lot of any of them. You will also need a glass ramekin to bake this in. Mine held about 1 cup of batter, and I tied a paper hat around the sides to help with any overflow.

• 70g plain flour (1/2 cup)
• 2 TBS packed soft light brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• pinch salt
• pinch ground cinnamon
• 3 TBS whole milk
• 3 TBS amber grade pure Maple Syrup
• 2 TBS butter, melted
• 1 TBS full fat sour cream (now is not the time to bicker over calories)
• 1 large free range egg yolk
• few drops of vanilla
• 2 TBS chopped toasted walnuts

For the Streusel Topping:

• 2 tsp plain flour
• 2 tsp soft light brown sugar
• 1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 TBS chopped toasted walnuts
• 1/2 TBS cold butter

 

Make sure you use regular flour and not self-rising flour. Amber Grade Maple syrup is the darker colored one. It has a lovely flavor.

Freeze the egg white to use at a later date. They come in handy for things like pavlova or angel food cake. Also, meringues.

I do like to toast my walnuts before using them. This is done quite simply. Walnuts can go from toasted to burnt in a blink of an eye, so keep an eye on them. Preheat your oven to 375*F/190*C/ gas mark 5. Spread your walnuts onto a baking sheet in a single layer. Toast in the preheated oven for 5 to 10 minutes until you can just start to smell them toasting. Start checking them at 5 minutes.

 

HOW TO MAKE A MAPLE WALNUT MUFFIN FOR DAD

Just like any other muffin really, except this is sized just for one!

Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6.  

Butter a ramekin or baking dish large enough to hold one cup of batter, and dust with flour, shaking out any excess. (I used a medium round ramekin dish and tied a baking paper hat around it.)

Make the streusel.  Combine the flour, sugar, nuts and cinnamon. Cut in the butter until crumbly.  Set aside.

  

Whisk all of the dry ingredients for the muffin together in a bowl. Whisk together the wet.  

Add all at once to the dry ingredients and stir just to combine.  Fold in the toasted walnuts.  Pour into the ramekin. Sprinkle the streusel over top.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until well risen and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Fabulously tasty!

 

HINTS AND TIPS FOR THE BEST MUFFINS

Here are my hints and tips for making sure that your muffins turn out beautifully every time!!

1. Mix wet and dry ingredients separately. To prevent the mix from being overworked, first mix the wet ingredients together in one bowl and mix the dry ingredients in another. Make a well in the dry ingredients, carefully pour in the wet ingredients, then stir the mix a couple of times to roughly combine. 

 2. Don't over mix your muffins. The most important rule of muffin making is to not over stir the mix. What you really want is to just moisten the ingredients. Do not stir or beat the batter until it is smooth and lump free. You want the final mix to be lumpy, and thick with a few floury streaks.

 3. Add your flavors last.  While spices should be added with all the other dry ingredients, additions like fruit and nuts should be added last. Give the batter one more light-handed stir once you've added them in just to combine.  

4. Line the pans. You can choose to either grease the muffin tin or line it with paper liners. If you choose to forgo the liners, make sure you grease the base and sides of the cups with oil spray or a little melted butter. If you're not going to eat the muffins for a while, do use paper liners as these will keep the muffins fresher for longer. 

  

 5. Don't overfill your pans. Aim to fill the cups ¾ full to get muffins with nice round tops and to prevent them from spilling out over the top of the cups.  Often if your tins are over filled the muffins will rise to the top and then collapse on themselves.

 6. For extra interest, add a flavorful sprinkle on top.  Once the muffin cups are all filled, you can choose to sprinkle the tops with more fruit, nuts or a crumble topping, even sanding sugar or cinnamon sugar, for even more taste and or crunch. As the muffins rise these toppings will cook into the tops of the muffin.  

7. Protect your baking pan.  If there isn't enough batter to fill all the cups, half fill the empty ones with water. This will help the muffins bake evenly and will help to protect your pan from buckling.

 

8. Cooling them down. Once you remove the muffins from the oven, let them sit in their pan for a few minutes before removing to a wire rack. This is especially important for muffins that aren't in a paper liner, as it will help them from falling apart. However, remove them after five minutes otherwise you risk them going soggy as they cool in the pan. 

9. Freeze extras for later. Muffins freeze beautifully, so if you can't enjoy them all on the day they're baked, wrap them tightly in plastic and put them in the freezer for later. They will keep for about 3 months and reheat wonderfully in the microwave for about 30 seconds on high from frozen. 

 

This is a beautiful muffin with a nice crunch and texture. That streusel topping really adds a special touch.  This was perfect with a nice hot drink.

Of course I had to split it and spread it with lashings of butter.  So tasty melting into that already delicious muffin. In for a penny, in for a pound!

 

Wonderful flavors . . .  and that crunch on top is, in short . . .  perfect.  Very worthy of gifting to the well-deserved father in your life!

Wanting more than just one muffin?  Perhaps I can tempt you with the following options for the whole family!

SPECIAL K BREAKFAST MUFFINS - These are the PERFECT breakfast muffins. Quick and easy to make. Delicious. I highly recommend. Simple and filled with fiber. You can use ordinary Special K cereal, or you can be a bit more extravagant and use one of the varieties which contain fruit.  This recipe makes half a dozen fabulous muffins. 

GINGERBREAD MUFFINS - I am a hug fan of gingerbread anything. I think gingerbread is probably one of my favorite things to bake and eat! They are moist and delicious with a lovely crumb and beautiful ginger/cinnamon flavor. The recipe makes a full batch of 12 fabulous muffins! 

Maple Walnut Muffin

Yield: Makes one giant muffin

Author: Marie Rayner

A very generous sized muffin built for one. Sweetened with maple, filled with toasted walnuts and topped with a cinnamon walnut streusel. Bake some loving for your honey bunny today!

ingredients:

• 70g plain flour (1/2 cup)
• 2 TBS packed soft light brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• pinch salt
• pinch ground cinnamon
• 3 TBS whole milk
• 3 TBS amber grade pure Maple Syrup
• 2 TBS butter, melted
• 1 TBS full fat sour cream (now is not the time to bicker over calories)
• 1 large free range egg yolk
• few drops of vanilla
• 2 TBS chopped toasted walnuts

For the Streusel Topping:

• 2 tsp plain flour
• 2 tsp soft light brown sugar
• 1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 TBS chopped toasted walnuts
• 1/2 TBS cold butter

instructions:

How to cook Maple Walnut Muffin

1. Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6.  Butter a ramekin or baking dish large enough to hold one cup of batter, and dust with flour, shaking out any excess. (I used a  medium round ramekin dish and tied a baking paper hat around it.)
2. Make the streusel.  Combine the flour, sugar, nuts and cinnamon. Cut in the butter until crumbly.  Set aside.
3. Whisk all of the dry ingredients for the muffin together in a bowl. Whisk together the wet.  Add all at once to the dry ingredients and stir just to combine.  Fold in the toasted walnuts.  Pour into the ramekin. Sprinkle the streusel over top.
4. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until well risen and a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.  Fabulously tasty!

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