St. Patrick’s Day is right around the corner. And despite the fact I’ll look as though I’m weathering some rough sea, I’ll be all about the green morning, noon, and night. Lunch will consist of lunch with the old girls; dinner will be corned beef, cabbage, and soda bread; so that leaves breakfast . . .
I don’t know about you, but I’m none too keen on green eggs and ham. But green bread? Yes, please–so long as it’s pistachio bread. My favorite pistachio bread recipe has been around roughly forever. Like any recipe from, say, the fifties or so, it’s super easy and super bad for you. But it’s green, delicious, and smells of happiness when baking.
Since the old girls love cupcakes, I decided to use the same recipe to make muffins. I’m calling them Top o’ the mornin’ muffins {obviously, I’m not at all Irish}. Serve them with fruit to feel better about it; serve them with dark coffee to prepare for whatever frivolity the day may hold. And if you’re eating cake for breakfast, it’s sure to hold quite a lot.
Ingredients
::Muffins::
1 package yellow cake mix
2 packages instant pistachio pudding mix
1 cup sour cream
4 eggs
¼ cup vegetable oil
¼ cup water
¾ cup chopped pecans
3 Tablespoons brown sugar
2 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
::Pecan streusel topping*::
4 Tablespoons cold, unsalted butter
1/3 cup flour
½ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 cup pecan halves
*If you’re not in the mood to make a streusel, simply combine the pecans, brown sugar, and 2 ½ teaspoons of cinnamon. When you fill cups, barely add batter to the bottom, add a hint of mixture, continue adding batter to ¾ full—top with more of the mixture.This is what I did for the photo. Because I was lazy. There, I said it.
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350° F; grease or line cupcake pans (approximately 18).
- In a medium bowl, combine butter, flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon—mixing the butter with your fingers until mixture forms coarse crumbs. Stir in pecans and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine cake and pudding mixes.
- Add sour cream, eggs, vegetable oil, and water. Mix until well blended.
- Pour into prepared cupcake pans—filling approximately ¾ full.
- Sprinkle streusel over the tops.
- Bake for 30 minutes, or until the cakes spring back when touched.
- Let cool for 10 minutes and enjoy!
You can download this pdf: Top of the morning muffin recipe
Yarm, the corned beef and cabbage sound pretty darn good too!
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