A reward for enduring an annual physical—Fresh Peach Muffins

How glad I am that our peach supply didn’t poop out before we had enough of those reddish-golden orbs to give themselves up for this recipe! (No chance of that, as I mentioned two days ago. We still have three peach trees with fruit waiting to ripen.)

But what is produced here just may be the most decadent breakfast muffin ever—Fresh Peach Muffins with a Pecan-Crumb Topping. Inside are chunky peachy morsels. Outside on the top is a deep layer of pecan-dotted crumbs that you wade into for quite some time, actually, before you bite into the muffin’s interior.

The recipe, procured online from www.footnetwork.com, is an Emeril specialty. Need I say more? Into my search engine I entered the words “peach breakfast muffins”; the name of famous chef Emeril Lagasse appeared alongside these delights. Did I look any further? Of course not. If Emeril has furnished it, it must be divine. Plus it makes oodles—2 dozen muffins, enough left over to freeze some for my July 4 weekend dining.

Yesterday was my Hubby’s “Welcome to Medicare” physical exam. He had to fast, of course, so blood work could be done. As he emerged ravenous after all that hoopla at the doctor’s office, I had held out these Fresh Peach Muffins as his reward. As he dined on all that decadence, he certainly felt rewarded!

Fresh Peach Muffins with Pecan-Crumb Topping

2 cups finely chopped fresh peaches

1 1/4 cups sugar, divided (I use sugar substitute)

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, at room temperature

2 eggs (1/2 cup egg substitute)

1 1/2 cups milk (I use skim)

4 cups all-purpose flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt (or salt substitute)

1/4 cup brown sugar (or 1/8 cup brown-sugar substitute)

1/4 cup ground pecans

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

4 tablespoons cold butter

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease 24 muffin cups. Place the peaches in a bowl and cover them with 1/2 cup of the sugar. Mix thoroughly. Allow the peaches to sit for 1 hour. Using an electric mixer cream the butter and remaining 3/4 cup of sugar until smooth and pale in color—about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat until fluffy, about 2 minutes. In a mixing bowl combine 3 1/2 cups flour, baking powder, and salt. Remove the bowl from the mixer; alternately fold in the milk and flour mixture. Be careful not to over mix. Fold in the peaches. Spoon 1/4 cup filling into each prepared muffin cup. In a small bowl combine the remaining flour, brown sugar, pecans, and cinnamon. Mix well. Add the butter. Using your hands mix until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs (or use a pastry cutter). Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of the crumb mixture over each muffin cup. If you have some left over (I did), evenly disperse it among the muffin tops. Bake muffins for about 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. Makes 24 muffins.

Trees will be loaded soon, but can’t wait to try these Peach-Pecan Muffins

Until this weekend’s spring-spoiler cold snap here in Texas, we could view them as fuschsia-colored spring blossoms on four different trees in our garden. The cool, strong, north wind swept those petals off the branches, but before long tiny fruit will be visible. Day after spring day we’ll watch those little ones become more and more plump until—mature peaches! Does any greater anticipation exist regarding the weeks ahead? (A gardening tip: Hubby chose different varieties that ripen in succeeding months to spread out the joy!) Soon our buckets will be full of that ripe, sweet fruit. The “peach” section of my recipe book is ready for ’em.

Whetting my tastebuds for peach-harvest days was a recipe from a recent Southern Living magazine for Peach-Pecan Muffins. The recipe was part of Southern Living’s tribute to one community’s church that for decades had served Lenten meals. Peach-Pecan Muffins represented a traditional menu item that helped draw hordes of people to the luncheons.

The muffins seemed so inviting, I simply couldn’t wait for our own peaches to appear. I sent Hubby to the grocery to bring back a few peaches that bore an “imported from Chile” label. I just had to try Peach-Pecan Muffins, even if the peaches therein were derived from Chile instead of from my own back yard.

Delicious peach chunks were folded into a batter and dropped into muffin cups, with a generous topping of brown-sugar, cinnamon, and pecan streusel. We enjoyed these as a Saturday-morning breakfast item before we departed to conduct round-two of spring cleaning at our place at the lake. I prepared these delicacies on the Friday night before; all evening the plateful of just-baked, wonderful-smelling muffins tempted me, but I self-disciplined and didn’t take my first bite until morning.

Terrific as only something made with fresh peaches can be!

Peach-Pecan Muffins

Pecan Streusel:

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar (can use 1/6 cup brown-sugar substitute)

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons melted butter

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Muffins:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup granulated sugar (or sugar substitute)

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt (or salt substitute)

1/2 cup butter, melted

1/4 cup skim milk

1 egg (or 1/4 cup egg substitute)

1 cup peeled, chopped, fresh peaches

cooking spray

Prepare streusel: stir together pecans and next four ingredients until mixture is crumbly. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl combine flour and next four ingredients. Make a well in center of mixture. Stir together butter, milk, and egg; add to dry ingredients by pouring liquid into well. Stir just until moistened. Gently stir in peaches. Coat muffin tin with cooking spray. Spoon batter into muffin cups; fill two-thirds full. Sprinkle with pecan streusel. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center emerges clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack 10 minutes; remove from pan. Serve warm or at room temperature. Makes 12-13 muffins.

"Best-ever" thing to make from peaches goes on shelf to enjoy for the rest of year

Whew! Mission accomplished!

For me, some food endeavors merit a great big, self-pronounced atta-girl once they're behind me.

When the peach orchard began producing in the spring and we saw that this year was going to be a watershed year where peaches were concerned, Peach Preserves, which I always consider to be a mammoth accomplishment, always were on my radar screen.

As I mention in Way Back in the Country Garden, my new cookbook, I consider Peach Preserves to be the absolute best thing that can be made from a personal peach harvest.

The recipe's not that difficult--the preparation simply involves a matter of settling in and simply getting it done. Boiling the jars, rounding up the lids and rings, peeling the peaches. The actual making of the preserves is a fairly short process compared to all the get-ready steps.

Hubby helped by being the Champeen Peach Peeler and making the grocery runs to buy some fresh lids for this year. He also helped remove the hot jars, once sterilized, to dry on clean towels spread out on the counter. That freed me to concentrate on the peach mixture.

What an absolute high I got when I finally began ladeling the preserves into jars and watch as the golden, thick syrupy mixture with giant peach chunks began settling itself into its new home in the clear jars on the countertop! Into the boiling water bath they went so the jars would seal. I never run out of excitement when I hear the telltale "click" of the jar lids as a sign that the sealing is successful. The jars then go on the pantry shelf for our dining enjoyment in the months ahead; I'll also give the best-looking ones as gifts.

One jar remained unsealed, of course. That's the one that went into our fridge so we could begin sampling this delicacy. We've already spread some on oven toast and on a few Fresh Peach Muffins, the recipe for which I've shared earlier. Tomorrow morning I intend to make some from-scratch biscuits (from Neta Welborn's recipe in the cookbook that Truett Welborn furnished me; I wrote about it in an earlier blog.)

Atta-girl for sure! The Peach Preserves are worth every bit of the effort--a gift that should keep on giving until the next spring.

Peach Preserves

8 cups peaches, peeled, pitted, and sliced (about 4 pounds)

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 (3-ounce) package powdered pectin

7 cups sugar (although I usually use sugar substitute, for this recipe I use really sugar)

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

Combine peaches, lemon juice, and pectin in a large pot or Dutch oven. Bring to a rolling boil and stir gently. Add sugar and return to rolling boil. Boil hard for 1 minute; stir constantly. Remove from heat. Skim any foam. Add almond extract and mix. Pour into hot jars; leave 1/4-inch headspace. Adjust caps and process for 10 minutes in boiling-water bath. Makes about 6 12-ounce jars.