Coffee Cake Muffins

Having a dozen freshly baked coffee cake muffins in your kitchen is like having all 12 new episodes of House of Cards waiting for you on Netflix, brand new and ready to be enjoyed. In fact, I think the muffins are even better, because I can make more of them whenever I want. Once I finish watching that last House of Cards episode, I'm out of luck for a long time.

Can you tell that I've already watched all of Season 3 (and eaten all of these coffee cake

muffins)? What is left for me to look forward to?

This week has been kind of lame. Even though it's March, it's still freezing out, and I

came down with a bad cold that has turned me into a sneeze machine. If I'm not

sneezing, I'm trying to shake the terrible feeling of being about to sneeze for minutes on end. I've also been exhausted and have barely cooked all week.

I made these coffee cake muffins last Saturday, and they did not last long. I used the cake base from my nutella coffee cake, but opted for a more classic flavor profile to make these muffins just like a quintessential coffee cake in portable form. I also reduced the sugar a bit, because these are for breakfast, not dessert. The dark cinnamon swirl and nutty streusel make these paleo muffins pretty habit-­forming. I have big plans to make another batch tomorrow (and another batch each weekend for the foreseeable future).

There's nothing like a muffin to console you if you're under the weather or out of new TV

episodes!

P.S. Does anyone else think about this Mean Girls clip whenever muffins come up? Maybe I'll re-watch the whole movie while eating some of these.

Coffee Cake Muffins

Yield: 12 muffins

Prep time: 15 minutes

Bake time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

For the cinnamon swirl:

2 tablespoons raw sugar or coconut sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon cocoa powder

For the streusel:

1/4 cup almond flour

2 tablespoons hazelnut flour (or substitute more almond flour)

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

2 tablespoons raw sugar or coconut sugar

Pinch of sea salt

2 tablespoons cold butter or ghee, cut into small pieces

For the coffee cake batter:

2 eggs plus 1 egg white

1/4 cup raw sugar or coconut sugar

1 teaspoons vanilla

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

2 tablespoons melted butter or ghee

2 1/2 cups lightly packed almond flour

2 tablespoons tapioca flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners or grease the cups

thoroughly.

To make the cinnamon swirl, mix all the ingredients in a small bowl.

To make the streusel, mix all the dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Add the butter or

ghee and work it in with your hands, pinching clumps between your fingers until the

streusel has the texture of wet sand.

To make the coffee cake batter, beat the eggs, sugar, milk, vanilla, and sea salt in a large

bowl until smooth. Add the melted butter or ghee, whisking constantly. Add the almond flour, tapioca flour, baking soda, and cream of tartar and mix thoroughly with a spatula.

Add the cinnamon swirl and mix just a bit, until it's somewhat distributed but still visible

in distinct swirls.

Use a greased ice cream scoop or large spoon batter to each muffin cup, filling it about

2/3 of the way full. Spoon the streusel on top of the muffins.

Bake for 15-­20 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean or with just a few small crumbs. Be careful not to overbake. Transfer the muffins to a rack to cool and enjoy warm or at room temperature.

Muffins will keep for several days in an airtight container on the counter.

Used in this recipe:

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