Nigella Lawson Maple Pecan Muffins Food

MAPLE PEPPER PECANS

Steps:

• Melt the butter with the syrup, salt and cayenne pepper in a pan over a gentle heat. Add the pecans and stir to mix, leave them on the heat for 2 to 3 minutes. Spread the pecans on a silicon pad, parchment paper, or piece of foil to cool. Arrange the sticky pecans in bowls to serve.

MAPLE-PECAN COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325 F.
• Cream the butter and sugar. When you've got a soft, supple mass, add the maple extract and work in the sifted flour. Roll into walnut-sized balls, and press with the base of a glass that you've lightly oiled (and if you've got some in the house, you could use walnut oil) or brushed with melted butter. Press gently onto the lined baking sheets--leaving a 2-inch space round each as they'll spread--and stud each with a pecan half.
• Cook for 15 minutes. They start off golden so it's hard to tell if they're cooked just by sight, but lift one up to check it's no longer doughy on the bottom. Remove from the oven, leave for a minute or two on the trays, and then transfer to a wire rack to cool.
• Variation: You can always substitute walnut halves for the pecans, but if you leave them completely nut-free, these are wonderful as cheese biscuits. Yes, they're sweet, but in the same way as digestive biscuits are strangely good with both creamy and hard cheese, so these can pair with a pungent blue quite wonderfully.

NIGELLA LAWSON MAPLE PECAN MUFFINS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Fill a 12 cup muffin tray with paper liners or butter it.
• You can also use mini-muffins in which case it will make about 28.
• Reserve 1/4th of the chopped pecans.
• Mix together remaining pecans with flour, salt, wheatgerm and baking powder.
• In another bowl, whisk together milk, egg, maple syrup, oil and vanilla.
• Pour the liquids into the dry mixture.
• Gently fold to mix.
• The batter can have some lumps.
• Do not overmix because these muffins can get tough.
• Spoon into the muffin tins.
• Chop the remaining nuts finely and mix with the brown sugar.
• Sprinkle a little on the top of each muffin.
• Bake for about 20 minutes until tester comes clean (less if baking in a mini muffin tin).
• The nut topping turns golden but the muffins will be very pale.
• Remove muffins to a cooling rack.
• Serve them warm or at room temperature, may be with some more maple syrup.

MAPLE PECAN MUFFINS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Mix dry ingredients (except pecans) in large mixing bowl.
• Beat together egg, maple syrup, milk, butter and vanilla.
• Stir into dry mixture just until moistened. Stir in pecans.
• Spoon batter into greased muffin pans.
• Sprinkle cinnamon sugar lightly on top of muffins before baking.
• Bake 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.
• Makes 12 muffins.