For a recent brunch gathering I decided to incorporate a sweet offering to complement the otherwise savory egg, bread, rice/lentil and salad options. Not surprisingly, I turned to Cook's Illustrated to find a recipe, and was incredibly happy when I found their Coffeecake Muffin recipe.
I am a big fan of nut-free coffeecake (I am allergic to nuts), and the muffin approach seemed like a great way to ensure a not-dry cake because the smaller cakes could presumably bake more evenly. Unfortunately though, the concept was better than reality for at least the first time I made it.
I followed the recipe mostly as is, omitting the pecans and using low-fat sour cream instead of full-fat. I used 13 muffin cups though because the quantity of dough was WAY more than 12 cups would allow. In fact, I think I should have used 18 cups or so because I definitely overfilled each cup, which led to a baking disaster. Each cup's dough eventually spilled over the sides, covering the entire outside of the cup. So halfway through the baking, I had to scoop up the dough on the baking pan, and off of the sides of the silicon cups.
When I took the muffins out of the oven, some were partially baked and sunk in while cool, and others were overbaked. The flavor was outstanding though – great spices and dark brown sugar combined with the sour cream for a rich, dense taste. So while I definitely look forward to making them again, this was yet another reminder to never overfill muffin cups while baking!
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