Hoarding or saving - tomayto, tomahto
From years of living in places where supplies were short and I had to haul essentials like peanut butter and pancake syrup in my suitcase each year after our long leave, I became a hoarder. Not on the lines of those poor souls who can barely move about their homes for the stuff piled high to the ceiling on that sad, sad television show, but still. I would buy packets of taco seasonings, chocolate chips, smoked sausage and the like and use them sparingly until we came into the home stretch of spring semester when I knew that another home leave was close at hand. THEN, I was more profligate, adding chocolate chips to all baked goods, dicing the sausage into omelets and sharing peanut butter with the dog. Okay, that never happened. But you know what, I can now. Even my precious Jif (Fat reduced too!) is readily available here so I have tried very hard not to buy extra and hoard it. This does not apply to items purchased on holidays.
Last year I came back from a trip with a jar of Biscoff, that lovely spread, sometimes called speculoos after the Dutch spice cookies of which it’s made. For more than a year it’s been in my cupboard, mocking me. I was waiting for that special recipe, that great occasion that would warrant the opening of a bottle of cookie spread! Sad, huh? Well, today, I did it. The jar was opened to make muffins, to share with some lovely friends. Which makes this a special occasion. And that's the way this should work.
Do you hoard anything? What do you save just for a “special” occasion? Have you ever saved something so long that it is no longer good?
Ingredients
2 cups or 250g flour
1/2 cup or 100g sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
3/4 cup or 180ml milk
1/3 cup or about 90g Biscoff spread
1/4 cup or 60ml vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For topping
1/2 cup or 70g whole pecans
1/4 cup or about 70g Biscoff spread
Method
Preheat the oven to 350°F or 180°C and either grease your 12-cup muffin tin or line it with paper liners.
Chop your pecans roughly with a sharp knife.
In one big mixing bowl, add your dry ingredients: flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Mix well and set aside.
In small mixing bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, oil, Biscoff and vanilla together thoroughly. Because of the raw eggs, resist drinking this silky rich mixture, no matter how wonderful it looks.
Fold the liquids to the dry mixture, stopping when they are just mixed.
Divide the batter between your prepared muffins cups. Scatter the pecans evenly on the muffin batter and press them down gently till they are stuck.
Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for a few minutes.
Drizzle the last 1/4 cup of the Biscoff on top the muffins. You can warm it briefly in the microwave if need be. I used an icing decorator bag and a small tip so the warmth of my hands was enough to get things drizzling.
Remove from the muffin tin and finish cooling on a rack.
Enjoy!
