Heeeeey there! You may or may not have noticed, but we took a short break at Full Fork Ahead this last week. Long story short – no one can handle all of it, all of the time. That being said, feelings of being overwhelmed may be what attracted me to the need to bake something yummy and, of course, comforting. Hence, muffins, people. Individual comfort for you and me. I’m at least consistent in my cooking urges. August is always our hottest month, but I always start wanting to feel that Fall feeling anyway. So, muffins it is.

I love to look for interesting muffin recipes. It seems like food blogs that develop recipes have the most creative muffins, while cookbooks and commercialized sites tend to stick to more basic types. Or somewhat weird combinations. I dunno, I might be hard to please when it comes to muffin recipes. And sometimes something simple, like these, appeals the most.

The cake-like muffin part of this recipe is the best part. It’s just the right density (not too heavy, not to light) and flavor for adding something like jam too. It seems to just let the jam have the spotlight, but I think your tongue will appreciate the rest of it, too. These muffins get a nice rich infusion thanks to sour cream and butter. Mmmm.

The batter gets pretty thick, as shown above. Don’t mix much beyond this state. It’s one of those types that you shouldn’t over stir.

So here’s the part where Sis Bogging Partner and I agreed we’d change things up a little next time. The instructions say to fill the muffin cups about two-thirds full with muffin batter, then dollop a heaping teaspoon of strawberry jam (or any flavor you prefer), then fill to the top with more muffin batter.

This sound sand looks like it would be enough jam, but we found the jam got a little lost at the end. It’s really just a thin ribbon in the middle of the muffin. Instead, next time, I’d either fill with a little less batter first, do a teaspoon of jam, a little more batter, another teaspoon of jam, then fill to the top of the cup with more batter. So, batter, jam, batter, jam, batter. You may get some jam that bursts from the muffin a little if you decide to use more, but I think this will be the way to go so that we get more jam flavor next time.

So yep, make sure all your muffin cups are filled as evenly as possible to their tippy tops. If you have any batter left, just distribute amongst the cups that could use a little more. Filling these to the top worked well in this recipe. We didn’t get any of those annoying overhangs that signals too much batter. The tops puffed up perfectly.

Pro tip: Grease the very top of your muffin pan (even if it’s nonstick) with either a little butter or nonstick cooking spray. While the muffin tops didn’t overlap a lot onto the pan, they still touched the top of the pan a little. A few were hard to get out without breaking the tops of the muffins off. If you can spot which ones we “fixed” in the pictures (oopsies, let’s just place those tops back on and whallaaah), though, I’ll be surprised.

We were really pleased with how these turned out appearance-wise. Again, they puffed up perfectly, they didn’t overlap the muffin cups too much and they were a nice size - not too big, not too little. Taste-wise, as said above, they were pretty darn good. We just need more jam next time! I wouldn’t mind some oozing out. If you’re going to put the jam inside the muffins, well, we need to taste it, right? Yeppers, we do! It’s getting close to Fall baking time, my friends, so put this one in the back of your mind and get ready for some lovely baked goodness with your morning coffee.

Strawberry Jam Muffins

from Williams-Sonoma Bake Good Things by Eva Kolenko, via WilliamsSonoma.com

Prep Time: 20 minutes Cook Time: 20-25 minutes Level: Easy Makes: 12 muffins

• 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 cups sour cream
• 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 - 3/4 cup seedless strawberry jam

Preheat an oven to 375°F. Line a 12-cup muffin pan (greased on top with either nonstick spray or a little butter) with paper liners.

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In another bowl, whisk together the sour cream, butter, eggs and vanilla until smooth. Add the sour cream mixture to the flour mixture and stir just until evenly moistened. The batter will be slightly lumpy and thick.

Fill each prepared muffin cup about one-third full with batter. Drop a heaping 1 1/2 - 2 teaspoons of jam into the center of each muffin cup, then finish with more batter until level with the rim of the cup. Bake until the muffins are golden, dry and springy to the touch, 20 to 25 minutes. (Watch closely as ovens vary on cooking times; yours could be done sooner.)

Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool for about 5 minutes, then turn the muffins out onto the rack and let cool for a few minutes more. Serve the muffins warm or at room temperature with butter or more jam.

Notes:

The recipe directions above are just slightly changed from the original. I added only what I felt would help improve the recipe experience, including greasing the top of the muffin pan so that the muffins wouldn’t stick where they touch the top of the pan slightly. I also noted the need for more jam than originally called for, as ours yielded thin, barely there ribbons of jam once baked and split open. Also, always remember to keep a close eye on things while baking. Ours were done slightly prior to twenty minutes.

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