Lawsuit Muffins with Mango

I worked from home on Monday morning in exchange for taking Friday off. Ahh, the wonders of working at home: no commute=less time wasted= more time spent baking delicious things in the kitchen= one more post to entertain you! I’d say the equation works out in everyone’s favor, don’t you think?

When neither D nor I wanted omelettes, oatmeal, shakshuka (to be described in a post sometime soon, hopefully), or any other breakfast staple of ours, I settled on Lawsuit Muffins (hardy-har-har).

These muffins are so named because the recipe, which was created by Marcy Goldman, was so popular that when a competitor started making them, she took the competitor to court and won (a nominal amount of money).My mom says I “gutted the story” – here’s her version: “I recall it that Marcy Goldman was originally making these muffins and selling them to a restaurant or a cafe, where they were such a success that a competitor hired her in-house as his baker in order to get the recipe. She took the job, made the place’s reputation with the muffins, after which he fired her but continued to use the recipe, prompting her to sue as you describe.” Yea, that sounds like a juicier story than mine.

I apparently stumbled upon the recipe a while back, thought it promising, wrote it in my cookbook, and forgot about it…until this morning, when I found it again and thought, what the hey? I’ll try these out. No regrets on that decision. Boy, I tell ya — the muffins are soft, flavorful, but with the perfect crust. And the mango was a great choice, IMHO. But hey, it’s what I had lying around. Feel free to use what’s in your fridge. I also cut the brown sugar in the batter to 3/4 cup from 1 cup, and the muffins were plenty sweet for my sweet tooth.

Now, I never do this, but something “inspired” me to write down the nutrition content underneath the recipe in my cookbook. I consider myself a pretty healthy eater, but as this blog evidences, I have a sweet tooth and a hankering for buttery, sugary deliciousness. And what can a girl do? Well, apparently, she can scare herself into oblivion by noting that one of these muffins, streusel topping and all, packs in a lot of calories (and yes, I’m going to spare you the exact number unless you want post a comment to inquire, in which case I’ll send you the number I’ve got written down). My eyes bugged out of my head a little, and I decided not to make the streusel topping, which you and I both know would really make these muffins spectacular. But here’s a little consolation — they’re delicious just as I made them.

Lawsuit Muffins with Mango adapted from Marcy Goldman
makes 15 muffins
For the streusel topping:

• 1 tablespoon cold unsalted butter
• 1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts

1. In a bowl, combine all of the streusel topping ingredients.
2. With your fingers, combine until you have a crumbly mixture.
3. Set aside if using immediately or store in the refrigerator.

For the muffins:

• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1-1/2 tablespoons grated citrus zest (I use lemon or orange.)
• 1 egg
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup buttermilk OR 1 cup milk and 1 Tbsp lemon juice, mixed
• 2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour (you may need a bit more if the batter is too wet)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1-3/4 cups fruit (coarsely chopped if using fruits like apples, banana or pears; I like mango, mango, mango)

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners. If you
don’t have paper liners butter and flour the muffin tin.
2. In a bowl, mix together the dry ingredients (flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda);
set aside.
3. In another bowl, combine the oil, brown sugar, citrus zest and egg. Once combined, stir in
the buttermilk and vanilla extract.
4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix well. Gently mix in the fruit. If the
batter seems to liquidy, add a tiny bit more flour. The batter should be fairly stiff.
5. Spoon the batter into the muffin cups filling them right to the top. Divide the streusel
topping equally among the muffins.
6. Bake for 15 minutes and then lower the temperature to 350 degrees F and bake for an
additional 12 minutes. When the muffins are done they will spring back when lightly pressed.
Otherwise, test the muffins by inserting a toothpick.
7. Let the muffins cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then remove the muffins and let them
cool on a wire rack.
8. Enjoy!