blue artichoke

My rock star Gentleman Caller had an out-of-town show this weekend, so I made our weekend muffins early. I've been slacking a bit on the muffins for various reasons, but they are a nice weekend treat and a good way to use up some odds and ends in the cupboards, so I'm back on track. I made Dried Cherry Crumb Buns. I don't know why they are called "buns" instead of "muffins." Maybe it sounds fancier. Whatever the name, I call them super-delicious. These are the best so far and definitely go to the top of the "keepers" list. Here's the recipe:

Dried Cherry Crumb Buns The Magnolia Bakery Cookbook

Buns:
2 c. flour
1 T. baking powder
¼ t. salt
1/8 t. cinnamon
½ c. (1 stick) butter softened
1 c. sugar
2 eggs, room temp
1 t. vanilla
1 c. buttermilk
1 ½ c. dried cherries
Topping:
2-¼ c. flour
1 ½ c. unpacked light brown sugar
1 c. (2 sticks) butter, softened and cut into small pieces

Preheat oven to 325.

Grease and flour 16 large muffin cups.

To make the buns: In a med-size bowl, sift together the first 4. Set aside.

In a large bowl, on the low speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until fluffy, ~3m. Add the eggs 1x1, beating well after each. Beat in the vanilla. Add the dry alternately with the buttermilk, in 3 parts, beating well after each. Stir the dried cherries into the batter. Spoon into muffin cups.

To prepare topping: In a med-size bowl, mix flour and brown sugar. Using a pastry blender, cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Sprinkle topping over buns, being sure to keep crumbs w/in muffin cups; otherwise they are difficult to remove.

Bake 20-25m until lightly golden or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Makes 16 buns.

I used regular-sized muffin tins with paper liners. I made 16, but overfilled the cups so they spilled out a bit. I should have made 18 for better batter distribution. Oh, and I also don't have any buttermilk, so I soured some regular milk by using 2 T. of lemon juice and adding enough milk to make 1 cup, then let it sit a few minutes to sour. Neat trick.

Dinner last night: dippy eggs, fake sausage links, slice of rye toast
Dinner tonight: no idea.