* image These past few months have been busy for our family, especially since our oldest joined a local swim team. Between juggling our work schedules and balancing school with practices... we're all pretty wiped out. Although it's a lot of work, I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving. Preparing the holiday meal for our family fills my heart with joy, and I can't wait to get started. To make things easier for me, I don't deviate much from our first Thanksgiving as a family. The dishes I make are familiar ones, and the recipes for them live at my fingertips. Keeping the same menu year after year means I don't have to spend time researching recipes or planning a new one. Here are my tried-and-true Thanksgiving recipes, as well as my prep timeline for the big day!
I'm bringing you a supercharged muffin recipe featuring espresso brewed with Gourmesso's Nespresso-compatible coffee capsules.
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I've loved coffee for as long as I can remember. The smell of it brewing makes me smile and that first sip in the morning is heavenly. During the summer months, I obsess over the combination of coffee and chocolate and get my fix by way of my preferred frozen dessert -- a cup of coffee ice cream topped with chocolate sprinkles.
And, while I still maintain that the ritual of coffee is more meaningful to me than the caffeine it provides, it's difficult for me to ignore the obvious benefits of that caffeine when I'm staring down at the face of an infant whose demands to be fed in the middle of the night have ripped me out of bed and away from the sleep that I so desperately need.
These days, it's rare for me to finish a cup of coffee without having to reheat it multiple times, and I miss being able to take the time to fully appreciate the experience of drinking it the way I used to. Thankfully, I've found a way for me to continue my love affair with coffee that doesn't involve using the microwave.
Well, except to melt the butter...
I'm talking, of course, about my Supercharged Espresso Muffins, inspired by the Messico Blend Forte variety of espresso by Gourmesso, a leading European provider of Nespresso-compatible capsules that recently launched in the United States. (Read my review of the Nespresso CitiZ here.)
Baking with coffee/espresso is one of my favorite tricks because it allows me to enhance other flavors (like chocolate). But, this time, I wanted the coffee flavor to be more pronounced.
The star.
To make that happen, I wanted to use an espresso blend that was balanced and smooth, and Gourmesso's Messico Blend Forte variety gave me just that.
This Fairtrade-Certified espresso blend features a combination of Arabica beans from India and Mexico and Robusta beans from Asia that have been dark-roasted to create the full-bodied flavor I was looking for.
After using a full cup of espresso in the batter (hence the "supercharged"), there was no mistaking what the predominant flavor was going to be, and all of that coffee helped give the batter a gorgeous caramel color. I was so transfixed that I had to stop myself from licking the entire bowl clean after filling the cups of the muffin pan.
(But, I did allow myself a tiny taste. No...Less than that. A taste-let, if you will.)
And, while I probably don't have to tell you this... I'm going to tell you anyway.
These muffins smelled amazing while they were baking.
Even though I knew they'd be in the oven for 20 minutes or so, I found myself lingering in the kitchen just so I could drink in the addictive aroma, an aroma that brought me back to when I was sixteen years old and working at a local mom-and-pop coffee shop.
Despite keeping a close eye on the timer and, literally, watching time pass, those 20 minutes felt like an eternity. By the time the timer went off, I had the butter out on the counter, my plate ready with a butter knife nearby, and another cup of espresso brewed.
Because... why not?
Like the espresso itself, these muffins were full of flavor. With the amount of espresso in them, you'd think the coffee flavor would jump right out at you, but it didn't. The flavor was deep and rich and surprisingly complex, and I loved how a generous slathering of butter intensified that richness.
To say that these muffins are addictive is an understatement. It was very easy to eat two three of them in one sitting... This may explain why I found it very hard to sit still later.
If you're a coffee-lover like me, then you just have to give these muffins a shot the next time you're in need of a little jolt.
(That pun was totally intended.)
Baking, Muffins, Coffee
Baking, Muffins, Breakfast, Brunch, Coffee
Yield: 12 muffins
Author: Taste As You Go // adapted from Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From My Home to Yours
Supercharged Espresso Muffins
This recipe for supercharged muffins features espresso brewed with Gourmesso's Nespresso-compatible coffee capsules.
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
1 large egg, room temperature
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
Place a rack in the center of your oven and preheat the oven to 400°F.
Place paper muffin cups in the molds of a regular-size muffin pan. Place the muffin pan on a baking sheet.
In a large bowl, whisk the flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt until well incorporated.
Whisk in the brown sugar, mixing well to make sure there aren't any lumps and set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk the cooled espresso, melted butter, egg, and vanilla until well combined.
Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients. Use a rubber spatula to gently but quickly combine. A few lumps are okay... Just be sure not to over-mix!
Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups, pouring approximately 1/4 cup of batter into each.
Bake the muffins for about 20 minutes, or until a thin knife or toothpick inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean.
Transfer the muffin pan to a wire rack and allow to cool for 5 minutes before removing the muffins from their molds.
