Maple Muffins

With lots of training and these muffins, I ran my first half marathon in 1hr 55min! These muffins are"powerful" and I craved for them immediately after I had my last one. 

These maple syrup-enriched muffins are real intense in their favour. They are very delicious with slightly sticky and crunchy tops, and yet moist and fluffy insides.

This is another brilliant recipe from the book, Sarabeth's Bakery: From My Hands to Yours. I'm so glad that I bought this book and made these muffins.
 

 

Here's the recipe from the book, Sarabeth's Bakery: From My Hands to Yours.
(with my minor modification in blue)

Softened unsalted butter, for the pan
2 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
1 1/2 cups pure maple syrup, preferably grade B*
12 tbsp (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup whole milk
1 large egg plus 1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts, toasted*

1. Position a rack in the center of he oven and preheat to 400°F (I used 190°C fan forced).  Brush the insides of 12 muffin cups with softened butter, then brush the top of the pan (I line the muffin with baking cups instead).

2. Whisk the unbleached flour, whole wheat flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl. Whisk the maple syrup, melted butter, and milk together in another bowl, then whisk in the egg and yolk. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir just until smooth.  Stir in the walnuts. Let the batter stand so the dry ingredients can absorb the liquid, about 5 minutes.

3. Using a 2 1/2 inch-diameter ice-cream scoop, portion the batter, rounded side up, into the prepared muffin cups.

4. Bake for 10 minutes.  Reduce the oven temperature to 375°F (I used 170°C fan forced) and bake until the tops of the muffins are golden brown and a wire cake tester inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean, about 15 minutes more.

5. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes.  Remove the muffins from the pan and cool completely.

* Grade B refers to its color & flavor which are darker & stronger than Grade A. It does not mean that it is inferior. 
* Toast walnuts at 350°F (I used 150°C fan forced) on a half-sheet pan, stirring occasionally for 8-12 minutes.

Note: Using a standard-size muffin tray, I've made 14 muffins with this recipe.

Happy Baking
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