Dear Jeanne: My good friend makes these every year for my birthday. I can never eat just one. Help! Thank you so much. —Katy, Howland, Ohio
Dear Katy: Using this quantity of batter and dividing it among 10 muffins means you must have the larger muffin tins. So, I thought I'd solve two problems at once — the lack of a larger tin and your desire to eat more than one.
I used average-size tins, and now you can eat two for the price of one! In addition to that, I reduced the fat and calories without a discernible difference in flavor or texture (so you can really eat three for the same amount of calories).
Of course, a large amount of the fat comes from the macadamia nuts; in fact, 3 of the 5 grams of fat in each muffin are from the nuts. But you couldn't really have macadamia muffins without them! I also thought that placing the nuts on top enables you to disperse them evenly — so I sprinkled all of them on top.
MACADAMIA NUT MUFFINS
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup (firmly packed) golden-brown sugar
3 large eggs
3/4 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons bread flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup whipping cream
3/4 cup coarsely chopped macadamia nuts
1/3 cup whole macadamia nuts
Preheat oven to 350 F. Line 10 muffin cups with paper liners. Use an electric mixer to beat butter and brown sugar in a large bowl to blend. Add eggs and mix well. Beat in almond and vanilla extracts. Sift flour, baking powder and salt into a medium bowl. Add to butter mixture and beat until combined. Add whipping cream and beat just until smooth. Fold in chopped macadamia nuts. Sprinkle each muffin with whole macadamia nuts. Bake approximately 25 minutes. Makes 10 muffins.
REDUCED-FAT MACADAMIA NUT MUFFINS
1/2 cup macadamia nuts, coarsely chopped and toasted
1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup (firmly packed) golden-brown sugar
3/4 cup egg substitute
3/4 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup nonfat vanilla yogurt
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line 18 muffin cups with paper liners. Set aside.
2. To toast the nuts, place in a 350 F oven for about 5 minutes. Cool.
3. In a large bowl, mix the butter with the brown sugar, then add the egg substitute. Beat well. Add the almond and vanilla extracts, then beat in the yogurt.
4. In another bowl, sift the flour, baking powder and salt together. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture. Combine with as little beating as possible.
5. Fill muffin cups about half-full, then distribute the nuts evenly on top and push down a little into the batter. Bake for 17 to 20 minutes. Muffins are done when the tops spring back when lightly touched. Makes 18 muffins.
Each muffin contains approximately: Original recipe: 335 calories; 24 gm fat; 89 mg cholesterol; 194 mg sodium; 28 gm carbohydrates; 5 gm protein; 1 gm fiber. Revised recipe: 113 calories; 5 gm fat; 7 mg cholesterol; 78 mg sodium; 14 gm carbohydrates; 2 gm protein; negligible fiber.
© King Features Syndicate Inc.