Peachy Breakfast Muffins

It's not summer if I don't bake something with peaches. They're tricky, though, because they're so juicy. As I was looking for inspiration, I ran across a recipe for French Breakfast Puffs in OUR BEST RECIPES from Better Homes and Gardens. Apparently this was an 1972 ribbon winner at the Champlain Valley Exposition in Vermont. I stuck with the basic recipe, but popped peach slices on top of half of them.

Personally, I liked the ones with peaches much better than the plain ones. I think raspberries or blueberries would do nicely as well. The tops of these muffins are knock-out beautiful. I guarantee that family and company will ooh and aah when you bring these to the table or put them on a buffet. The sugar on top sparkles under the sun. So you don't want to fill up the top with berries. I would poke berries down into the batter.

I used unbleached (raw) sugar, which is a little bit bigger than regular sugar, but regular sugar should work just as well.

Besides the showy appearance, I love the ease of preparation. This would be a great choice for summer rentals because you don't need a mixer or any fancy gear -- just two bowls, a fork, and a spoon. I melted the butter in the microwave in short bursts.

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This is a super recipe for kids to help with -- or to make on their own. It's that easy!

French Breakfast Puffs

(makes 12 muffins)

butter for greasing muffin tin

1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon salt

1 egg
1/2 cup milk (I used nonfat)
1/3 cup butter, melted

1 1/2 fresh peaches

1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350. Grease muffin wells in the muffin pan.

In one bowl, combine the flour, 1/2 cup sugar, baking powder, nutmeg, and salt. Mix well with a fork, and make a well in the middle.

In another bowl, whisk the egg with a fork, pour in the milk and combine, then whisk in the 1/3 cup melted butter.

Peel the peaches with a vegetable peeler and slice into eighths.

Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and stir until just combined. It should be lumpy. Do not overmix!

Spoon into muffin pan, dividing evenly, filling each well about 1/2 full. Place a peach slice on top of each muffin, pushing it into the batter just a bit.

Bake at 350 for 20 to 25 minutes.

Meanwhile, stir the cinnamon with the 1/4 cup sugar. Melt the 1/4 cup butter in a small bowl.

Remove the baked muffins from oven. While still hot, remove each muffin from the pan, dip into the melted butter and then dip into the sugar.

Serve warm.