Garden: Coffee Cake Muffins

Thanks to Sandy, I spent the better part of Monday and Tuesday stress-baking. When I finally heard that my family and friends around New York were a-okay, I started eating everything I had made. Bit by bit, I devoured chocolate bar cookies and glazed coffeecake muffins (recipe below), and then moved onto an herby roast chicken and a tray of maple-roasted squash slices. I?ve been driven to food by guys before but never by a force of nature.

I?m totally focused on salads for the rest of my life. Or until holiday baking begins, which is any day now, right?

The moment midnight strikes on Halloween, it?s as if a buzzer goes off telling everyone, especially food bloggers, to start holiday planning. I?m too busy planning the Eat Boutique Holiday Market and, I promise, the line up is pretty fantabulous. I was writing about all the good Market foodstuffs late last night and couldn?t believe all the amazing makers we?re gathering together on December 9.

We?re still getting a page up on each maker on the Markets website, but until then, I wanted to preview a list of confirmed participants here. Because I like to tease and share and I just can?t hold back the happiness. Drum roll please?

Food Makers: C. Crowell Confections, Company Jam, Bow & Sparrow Bakery, Beehive Kitchenware Company, Didi Davis Foods, Doves and Figs, Fastachi, Fat Spice, Foret Design, Island Creek Oysters, Lark Fine Foods, Liddabit Sweets, Q?s Nuts, Nutting Farm Maple Syrup, Nobscot Artisan Cheese, Ocean Ave Pops, Rococo Artisan Ice Cream, Sweet Marguerites, Suss Sweets, SlantShack Jerky, Tea Cuvee, Tortured Orchard, Vianne Chocolate and The Coffee Trike.

Drink Makers: Oh my goodness, we have 10 drink makers who would like you to sip their small production wine, beer, cordial, cider and sake at the Holiday Market. We?ll preview them in the coming weeks.

{Take a breath before you read the gorgeousness of these cookbook authors.}

Cookbook Authors: Amy Traverso (The Apple Lover?s Cookbook), Katie Workman (The Mom 100), Beatrice Peltre (La Tartine Gourmande), Liz Gutman (The Liddabit Sweets Cookbook), Marisa McClellan (Food in Jars), Maria Speck (Ancient Grains for Modern Meals) and we?re pleased to share that Joy Wilson (Joy the Baker) will be visiting all the way from Los Angeles ? yay! Authors will sell and sign their cookbooks.

{And we made some friends who wanted to get involved too?}

Partners: Ana Sortun Chef Sets, America?s Test Kitchen, Shoestring Magazine, Uber and Google will host a Google+ Hangout.

There are lots of little surprises planned for the Holiday Market and tickets go on sale next week ? woot! I hope you can come and get all your holiday shopping done in one swoop, because holiday shopping can be a drag except when there?s food involved. I like to make the small batch food gift shopping easy. See you on December 9 or online until then!

Coffeecake Muffins

Adapted from Brown Eyed Baker

Makes 12 muffins

Ingredients:

? cup walnuts
? cup (1? ounces) dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 cups (10 ounces) all-purpose flour
1 cup (7 ounces) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into ?-inch pieces and softened
1? teaspoons baking powder
? teaspoon baking soda
? cup Greek yogurt
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup confectioner?s sugar
4 tablespoons water

Directions:

Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 350?F. Grease a standard 12-cup muffin tin and set aside.
In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade, process the nuts, brown sugar, and cinnamon until the nuts are the size of sesame seeds, about ten 1-second pulses. Use a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides and bottom of the food processor bowl and transfer the mixture to a medium bowl and set aside.
Return the bowl and metal blade to the food processor, add the flour, granulated sugar, and salt and process until combined, about five 1-second pulses. Sprinkle the butter evenly over the flour mixture and process until the butter is the size of oats, about eight 1-second pulses. Remove ? cup of the flour-butter mixture and stir it with a fork into the reserved brown sugar mixture until combined to make the streusel. Set aside ? cup of the streusel for the muffin batter and the remaining portion for topping the muffins.
Add the baking powder and baking soda to the remaining flour mixture in the food processor bowl and process until combined, about five 1-second pulses. Whisk together the Greek yogurt, egg, and vanilla in a 1-cup glass measuring cup and add to the flour mixture. Process until the batter is just moistened, about five 1-second pulses. Add the remaining ? cup of the streusel to the flour mixture and process until the streusel is just distributed throughout the batter and the batter looks crumbly, about five 1-second pulses.
Using a large spoon sprayed with nonstick cooking spray to prevent sticking, divide the batter among 12 muffin cups. Sprinkle with a scant tablespoon of streusel on top of each muffin, pressing lightly so that the streusel sinks slightly into the batter. Bake the muffins until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out with several crumbs clinging to it, about 18 minutes, rotating the pan from front to back halfway through the baking time. Avoid over baking. Place the muffin tin on a wire rack and allow the muffins to cool in the tin for 2 minutes. Using the tip of a paring knife, loosen the muffins and gently transfer them from the tin to the wire rack. Cool for 5 minutes. Serve warm.
If glazing the muffins, place a sheet of parchment paper beneath the wire rack as the muffins cool. Whisk the confectioner?s sugar and water in a medium bowl until smooth. Spoon about 2 teaspoons glaze over each muffin, letting the glaze run down the sides of the muffins. Serve warm.

All photos styled and taken by Maggie Battista.

Eat Boutique?discovers the best small batch foods by boutique food makers. We share recipes, maker stories and city guides to eating boutique. We host tasting events and markets for food makers, cookbook authors and food fans.?We craft seasonal, regional gift and tasting boxes and sell individual items that you can order in?our new shop.?Sign up to be the first to get tickets for the?Eat Boutique Holiday Market?on December 9, 2012.