Like the doughnut

You know what's EASY to photograph? Muffins.

The sole motivation for this was simply to make something EASY. Nothing is easier than cake. Easier still is a cake without icing. Hence, the muffin.

I was even looking for something simple in terms of ingredients. No special anything here, folks: butter, sugar, cinnamon, etc. It's so straight-forward, you could make it in your sleep. (But, seriously, don't do that; you'll burn the house down and I couldn't live with the guilt.)

I got the recipe from Williams-Sonoma (again). They have such adorable pictures next to all their recipes! It's hard not to just sit and browse until something jumps out at you. So I found these little muffins that the site correctly asserts taste just like cinnamon sugar cake doughnuts (but without the frying). They're especially good slightly warmed with a big glass of milk. Mmm, simple pleasures...


CINNAMON-BUTTERMILK MUFFINS
Source: Williams-Sonoma


For the muffins:

7 Tbs. unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract


For the topping:

2/3 cup sugar
1 Tbs. ground cinnamon
6 Tbs. (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted


Preheat an oven to 350°F. Grease 9 standard muffin cups with butter or butter-flavored nonstick cooking spray; fill the unused cups one-third full with water to prevent warping.

To make the muffins, in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the flat beater, combine the butter and sugar and beat on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add the egg and beat well until pale and smooth.

In another bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg. Add to the butter mixture in 2 additions, alternating with the buttermilk and vanilla. Stir just until evenly moistened. The batter will be slightly lumpy.

Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling each three-fourths full. Bake until the muffins are golden, dry and springy to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool for 5 minutes. Unmold the muffins and let stand until cool enough to handle.

To make the topping, in a small, shallow bowl, stir together the sugar and cinnamon. Put the melted butter in another small bowl. Holding the bottom of a muffin, dip the top into the melted butter, turning to coat it evenly. Immediately dip the top in the cinnamon-sugar mixture, coating it evenly, then tap it to remove excess sugar. Transfer the muffin, right side up, to the rack. Repeat with the remaining muffins. Let cool completely before serving. Makes 9 muffins.

You scream, I scream.

I'm still here! I haven't disappeared! I'm in the middle of moving to a new house so you'll have to excuse my bouts of absence. It's kind of hard to cook when you can't find measuring cups... But I finally got an ice cream maker for my birthday and I couldn't be more excited. So many recipes to try! I can make my own ice cream?! SCORE. This is my very first and it was a total success! A little explanation first, though:

You all know those ice cream chains that mix up toppings and stuff into the ice cream in front of you. Cold Stone is probably the most widespread but in Houston, Marble Slab came first. They have many amazing flavors but my favorite is the Vanilla Cinnamon. One day, my mom decided to mix in a never-fails ingredient: Butterfinger. And the rest is history. Or, you know; my favorite ice cream flavor of all time. Since I'm no longer in Houston and have no access to Marble Slab, I knew I would have to attempt cinnamon ice cream with Butterfinger mixed in.

Now, ice cream making is intense; this entire process took 3 DAYS. It'll take two next time but this time I had to freeze the bowl overnight, make the ice cream and chill the liquid form in the fridge overnight then brew it up in the machine the next morning then freeze it AGAIN overnight. When it first comes out of the machine, it's like soft serve and that's just not real ice cream to me. But when I took it out today? Perfect!

I found a few cinnamon recipes but tried one that was highly rated at All Recipes first. It doesn't look like Marble Slab's but it sure is cinnamony!

It came out smooth and creamy and so so good. I split the batch and kept half plain then I went ahead and mixed my Butterfinger in the rest!!
oh good God. It's SO good. I don't know what it is (cinnamon and Butterfinger??) but it goes so well together. VERY sweet but so yummy. I still can't believe I made ice cream! It looks and tastes so real!! I'm going to include my modified recipe but just cut out the crushed Butterfinger if you want straight cinnamon ice cream (which is delicious on it's own). It would go wonderfully with a dense chocolate cake...


CINNAMON ICE CREAM WITH BUTTERFINGER
Adapted from Elizabeth's Cinnamon Ice Cream

• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 1/2 cups half-and-half cream
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup crushed Butterfinger (or to your liking)
  

1. In a saucepan over medium-low heat, stir together the sugar and half-and-half. When the mixture begins to simmer, remove from heat, and whisk half of the mixture into the eggs. Whisk quickly so that the eggs do not scramble. Pour the egg mixture back into the saucepan, and stir in the heavy cream. Continue cooking over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a metal spoon. Remove from heat, and whisk in vanilla and cinnamon. Cool in refrigerator overnight.

2. Pour cooled mixture into an ice cream maker, and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions.

3. At end of mixing process, add crushed Butterfinger and let stir until fully combined. Remove from ice cream maker and store in air tight container in freezer overnight (to allow ice cream to fully refreeze).