Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Brown Butter Nut Muffins



I finally made these muffins, after months of thinking about them. Originally, I wanted to use hazelnuts. But, for some reason, I simply cannot find hazelnuts! I’ve tried local grocery stores, health food stores, Costco, and Whole Foods. So, I’ve given up on the hazelnuts. Instead, I used pine nuts. The result was good. I’m don’t make muffins too often, because I don’t really eat them. But, these were a nice departure from the very sweet cakes I’ve been making as of late. I don’t have a mini muffin pan, so I had to use mini muffin wrappers in regular muffin sized tins. So, excuse the very flat tops! I love the taste of brown butter; it complimented the pine nuts. The powdered sugar on top helped to balance out the nuttiness. The muffin itself was a little chewy, good for breakfast or dessert!

Brown Butter Nut Muffins
½ c. of toasted nuts (I used pine nuts)
2/3 c. powdered sugar
½ c. cake flour
½ c. granulated sugar
3 egg whites
1 stick of unsalted butter, cubed

Put toasted nuts and powdered sugar into food processor. Pulse until the mixture has a fine consistency. In a bowl, combine the granulated sugar and flour. Add the nut mixture to the flour mixture. Set aside.

Over medium heat, melt butter. Allow the butter to continue cooking for about 5 or 6 minutes until the edges are light brown and foamy. Add the butter to the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. Finally, add egg whites and mix until incorporated.

Line a mini muffin pan with liners. Fill liners halfway with batter. Bake for 15 minutes at 350.

Allow muffins to cool, then sprinkle on more powdered sugar.

My batch made 24 mini muffins.


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