Would you like a bite of old-fashioned-style cake equally suitable for a morning coffee break, mid-day snack, and even dessert. If so, then this is it.

What I like about this coffee cake recipe is that it isn't overly sweet. I created this recipe using all-purpose flour, not cake flour, which makes a denser crumb with a nice texture. The dairy mix of sour cream, yogurt, and milk is a harmonious trifecta that achieves a light and flavorful addition to every slice. Use fresh eggs and butter, and you'll have a hit.

Sour Cream Coffee Cake Muffins

chefgeorgehirsch.com | George Hirsch Lifestyle

Makes about 18 muffins

For the Crumb Topping:

1/2 cup light brown sugar

6 Tablespoons sweet butter, softened

1 cup flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 teaspoons vanilla

1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

Place the butter, brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and vanilla in a bowl and crumble together with your fingers until it forms a crumb mixture. Add in the nuts—reserve and mix the muffin batter.

For the Cake:

1/2 cup sweet butter, one stick softened

1 cup sugar

2 eggs, beaten

2 cups All-Purpose Flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup low-fat plain yogurt

1/4 cup 2% milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon fresh grated orange rind

Lightly grease 18 muffin cups or use paper liners.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (175 degrees C). Note: If using a dark-colored muffin pan, reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees F. Dark-colored pans absorb more heat while baking in the oven, become hotter, and carry heat faster than light-colored pans.

Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Scrape the sides of the bowl with a spatula. Mix in eggs, vanilla, and orange zest, one at a time. Scrape the sides of the bowl again.

In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, combine sour cream, yogurt, and milk. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture alternately in three stages with the sour cream, yogurt, and milk mixture, stirring and scraping the bowl with a spatula after each addition. Mix until just blended. Do not over-mix.

Add half the batter into prepared muffin cups and sprinkle with half the topping mixture. With the back of the butter knife, swirl the batter slightly to mix the crumb mixture into the bottom of the muffin cups. 3/4 filled. Add the remaining batter, then the crumb topping, and bake.

Bake the muffins in a preheated 350°F oven for 15 to 20 minutes or until they test done. Cool for 15-20 minutes, and then remove them from the pan.

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Recipes for a Healthy Active Life
Product Details
Hardcover: 240 pages; $24.95
Publisher: M. Evans and Company, Inc.; 2000
Language: English
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The Blueberry Muffin is the most popular muffin, and with Easter this weekend, my Blueberry Nut Muffins are ideal to serve for breakfast or include in your Easter Brunch. Make-n-bake in under an hour.

No sweat if fresh blueberries are in season in your neighborhood; a good quality frozen berry will do just fine.

Tip: Stock up your freezer with extra blueberries for recipes like this. Store whole fresh berries in sealed plastic storage bags for up to six months.

Tip: Did you know that tossing blueberries with flour before adding them to the batter will prevent them from sinking to the bottom of the muffin during baking?

Blueberry Nut Muffins

Recipe by George Hirsch | Makes 10-12 muffins

For the topping:

1/3 cup light brown sugar

2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 Tablespoons nuts, walnuts, or pecans, chopped into 1/4-inch pieces

1 Tablespoon sweet butter

Mix brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and nuts in a small bowl. Blend butter in with a fork until the mixture is crumb-like.

For the muffin mix:

1/2 cup sweet butter, room temperature

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 Tablespoon flour for coating blueberries, plus greasing muffin cups

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups fresh blueberries

1 cup pure cane granulated sugar

2 large eggs, beaten

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon grated orange zest

1/2 cup milk

Grease a regular-size 12-cup muffin pan with butter and dust with flour, banging out excess flour, or use muffin cup liners.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl.

In a separate bowl, use a mixer to cream butter and sugar at medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Add vanilla and orange zest to beaten eggs, then add eggs one at a time, mixing until eggs are absorbed.

With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture and milk in three stages, mixing until all are incorporated. Do not overmix.

Toss blueberries in a fine strainer with about one Tablespoon of flour to lightly coat. Using a rubber spatula, fold in 1 1/2 cups of the blueberries. Place batter into muffin cups with an ice cream scoop or large spoon, filling each cup to three-quarters full. Add the remaining 1/2 cup of blueberries on top of the muffins and divide the crumb topping over the muffins.

Bake for about 25-30 minutes, until muffins are golden brown. Check muffins halfway through and rotate if the oven temperature is uneven. Test with a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin; it should come out clean, or when touched lightly, the muffin should have a slight resistance to finger pressure.

Remove from oven and allow muffins to cool in pan for 10 minutes, then remove muffins from pan.