Coffee Cake Muffins

It's no secret that I love breakfast. If I ever open a restaurant, its going to serve breakfast. And that's it. Breakfast is probably my favorite time of the weekend, a time when I have some peace in the kitchen to just whip up something tasty. The dog lies at my feet, coffee brews, and life is wonderful. I don’t know if everyone else enjoys this time of the morning like I do, but it sure helps me recharge during the weekend.

One of my favorite things to do for breakfast is bake. Cinnamon rolls, biscuits, you name it, I do it. However, with the recent trend of us eating a bit more healthy, I have been banned from some of my normal concoctions. So I did what all (read: one) cooks do in this situation, I subscribed to Cooking Light. Of the healthy magazines, I find it probably the best at the moment (every other one seems obsessed with using at least one box o'junk in a recipe). I found their coffee cake which had some praises, and also some glaring flaws. I made them according to the recipe/rewrites the first time, and they were pretty darn good (I decided to make them into muffins). For a light muffin. But I wanted fireworks in your mouth good. So I adjusted the recipe to what I knew about muffins, keeping in mind that making light muffins is a delicate process, one false step and you either get bricks or saw dust. Not on the menu.

These muffins came out great, and I am happy to say they will join my regimen of normal breakfast baking. I also managed to make them slightly lighter than Cooking Light made them, bringing them in at 200 calories per muffin (batch makes 12).

Coffee Cake Muffins

1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2/3 cup white sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
2 egg whites
1 cup reduced-fat sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 3/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350°F. Combine brown sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl; set aside.

Place white sugar and butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well-blended, about 5 minutes. Add egg whites, beating well after addition. Beat in the sour cream and vanilla. Combine the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt) in a bowl, slowly add to mixer and beat well.

Lightly coat a 12-muffin tin with cooking spray. Spread half of batter evenly into each muffin tin. Sprinkle half of cinnamon streusel over batter. Spread remaining batter over the streusel. Top with remaining streusel.

Bake for 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. let cool about 5 minutes before removing from tin. Enjoy!