Sour Cream Muffins (Whole Wheat)

I've been trying to find whole grain recipes that actually taste good. It's kind of hard. But I thought this one was really good, and the kids totally scarf them down. It's really nice because you make the batter ahead and it can sit in the fridge for up to 4 days before baking, so you can just whip up some hot muffins in the morning with not much effort. They are not low fat, nor low sugar, but they're mm-mm good.


2 cups (8 oz) white whole wheat flour (hard or soft white wheat work)
1/2 cup (2 1/8 oz) unbleached all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
4 T. (1/2 stick, 2 oz) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup (7 oz) sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup (8 oz) sour cream
1 1/2 cups (7 1/2 oz) fresh or frozen fruit*
course sugar for sprinkling (opt.)

Lightly grease a muffin tin, or line with papers. Whisk together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in medium bowl. Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy and almost white in color. Scrape down bowl, then add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the vanilla and sour cream and mix until incorporated. Add the dry ingredients, mixing on low speed just until batter is smooth (this is a very stiff batter, so don't be concerned. And it gets even stiffer after refrigerating. It's ok) . Scrape the bottom and sides of bowl once more to be sure everything is evenly combined. Gently fold in the fruit and refrigerate at least one hour.**

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. (375 if you have dark pans) Scoop the batter by the 1/4-cupful into the prepared pan and sprinkle with sugar (if desired). Bake until toothpick comes out clean, 22 to 26 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool in pan for 5 minutes, then turn out onto a rack to finish cooling. Makes 12 muffins.

*I've tried this using chopped up apple, chopped frozen peaches, frozen blueberries, and craisins. The craisin ones were good right out of the oven, but they dried out faster than the others. The apple ones were good, but next time I'd add a little cinnamon to the batter (or make a cinnamon crumb topping) to compliment the apple flavor. The peach ones were also good, and the blueberry ones were our favorite.

**If desired, you can make this batter ahead and keep in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. In this case, mix the fruit in just before baking. If the batter is cold from the refrigerator, you may need to increase baking time by 3-5 minutes.

UPDATE: I made these again this weekend for Conference Sunday breakfast. All I had was fat-free sour cream, so that's what I used. I thought they turned out just fine. They were a little drier than those made with full-fat sour cream, but not enough for it to matter to me. That actually makes them pretty reasonable in the fat department (only 4 T. for 12 large muffins--- not bad.) Now if we could figure out a sub for the sugar....

I made apple again and added a streusel topping (recipe follows). They were good. I also tried some with almond extract added (1/2 tsp) and chopped dark cherries (frozen). Those were the favorites this morning among the kiddies. Next time I'll add some sliced almonds as a topping for those.

Cinnamon Streusel:

1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
2 T. softened butter

Combine all ingredients until evenly combined and crumbly. (I just mashed it all together with a fork). Sprinkle over the top of each muffin before baking.