Maggie's Almond Sour Cream Jam Muffins

These muffins are so, SO good. I wasn't sure what to expect, since I more-or-less made up the recipe and baking isn't as much my thing as cooking, but wow. They are rich, have great texture, and I love the dollop of jam in each one. I ate four in one day!

I didn't intend to create a sour cream muffin recipe, but I'd used a small amount of sour cream making cheesy taco mac. While normally I wouldn't think twice about an open tub of sour cream in the fridge, I've been far more conscientious about the food we've been making and using. We have only been to the grocery store twice in the last six weeks, and while we are very lucky in terms of our ability to stock up on food (plus, beans and lentils are cheap and delicious!), I am pretty sure that our changed behaviors have altered my processing of food in our house. This recipe is a great thing to emerge from my shifted consciousness and it is sure to make it into a regular rotation!

Maggie's Almond Sour Cream Jam Muffins
Ingredients
3/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. neutral flavored oil (e.g., vegetable or canola)
1 "egg" equivalent
1/2 tsp. almond extract (see Helpful Hints)
1 c. vegan sour cream
3/4 c. almond meal
1 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
jam of your choice

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees and prepare a muffin tray with non-stick spray or liners.
1. Cream sugar and oil in a stand mixture at high speed. Add "egg" and almond extract, mix again.
2. Add sour cream, mix again.
3. Add almond meal, flour, baking powder, and baking soda, mixing on low speed or by hand with a spoon until combined.
4. Fill muffin cups about one-third full of batter, then drop 1 tsp. of jam into the middle of each. Use the rest of the batter to cover the jam.
5. Bake for 3-5 minutes at 375, then lower oven temp to 350 and bake for another 17-18 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly before removing from muffin tray.

Helpful Hints

• If you really like almond flavor, you can use a full teaspoon of almond extract. 
• I used black raspberry jam, which was delicious with the almond. I also imagine that red raspberry, strawberry, blueberry, or cherry would taste amazing. If you try a jam other than black raspberry, please let me know how the tastes work together??
• It's important to wait a little for the muffins to cool slightly, but you do not want them to cool completely in the muffin tray. Should any of the jam have burbled our of the muffin, it becomes cement-like when completely cool and makes the muffins impossible to remove from the tray in one piece. 
• Like most breads, these should freeze well. We ate them too quickly to find out, but...
• My guess is that this recipe would work very well using a gluten-free replacement flour in place of all-purpose flour. I have consistently the best luck with Bob's Red Mill's 1-to-1 baking flour. 

The post "Maggie's Almond Sour Cream Muffins" first appeared on Maggie's LesVegan Kitchen.