Peach-Pecan Muffins Recipe

Spring break in North Carolina. Yesterday it was snowing and today the sun is shining and the temperatures are headed into the 60's. That abrupt change is similar to what goes on in our house during spring break. Dudette, who usually sleeps until I have to wake her so she'll be ready to leave for preschool on time, is suddenly popping out of bed well before 7am. Instead of giving her a kiss as she heads out the door to school for three hours, she's home. All the time.

It also means that I have the opportunity to fix good, warm breakfasts for her instead of pouring a quick bowl of cereal or handing her a day-old baked good. Take this morning, for instance. Warm, tender muffins sit on our kitchen table just begging to be eaten, thanks to another recipe from Southern Living. At the decent hour of 10am. Life is good.

It all begins with the streusel topping, which is simply chopped pecans, brown sugar, flour, melted butter and cinnamon all mixed together in a bowl, making sure some lumps are created. No streusel topping is worthy unless cooked lumps of brown sugar/buttery goodness can be stolen from the top of the baked good.

The batter goes pretty quickly as well. I mixed together flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl. Then I made a well in the middle and added melted butter, milk and a large egg. I beat the egg a bit first even though the instructions didn't require it because the recipe did ask for minimal stirring. Once I had minimally stirred, I added the thawed, diced peach slices and gently folded them in, then put my muffins into their little cups.

Twenty-three minutes later they were ready to come out of the oven for a short cool-down before consumption. Like magic, Hubby showed up from his man cave/office just in time to sample one, which he deemed delicious. Dudette, on the other hand, didn't care for them. I've found that she doesn't have a taste for cinnamony things but prefers dense chocolate desserts instead.

If you've reach much of my stuff, you know that chocolate and I are not friends. I don't care for it to the point that yes, I dislike it. So, it rarely crosses my mind to bake chocolate goods. I'm more the Peach-Pecan Muffin type. I need a paradigm shift, I guess.

All that to say, Hubby and I think this is a fantastic recipe. It's quick to make, dirties just two bowls and one muffin pan and results in a dozen perfect streusel, peach-filled muffins. Six for him, six for me. I think I'll make some brownies.