Guest Post w/The German Foodie

I’m am super excited, god honestly honored, and just plain darn happy to have Sofie Dittmann guest posting for this Momma today!! Sofie does an awesome introduction to her and her site below but I want to say that I specifically remember this woman being super helpful when I first started getting my blog out their. I’m not a technical person, not even a little, not even a little of a little, so when this stranger swooped in and answered my questions, just because……well that was enough for me to like this woman and what she does over at The German Foodie 🙂 Soooooooooooo without further a due……..

About Sofie Dittmann AKA The German Foodie:
I am an expat German living in Northeast Ohio, and blogging mostly about authentic German food and my own original recipes inspired by German food. Having grown up in the border region with France in a very cosmopolitan city, even for its size, I am also drawn to all sorts of ethnic recipes.
I have been baking ever since I could hold a spoon, and it is my great passion in life. I have somehow always baked. I love to explore and experiment, to create and yes, eat what I have created. I am not just a consummate baker; I like to cook as well, especially seasonally.

Marzipan Almond Muffins, German Style
I am thrilled to be guest posting at “Momma’s Meals” today! But before I get started, I have a confession. I’m an addict. To marzipan, that is, AKA almond paste. I just LOVE that stuff, especially when it comes from Germany and is coated with dark
chocolate. It also makes for a wonderful baking ingredient, both in and on all sorts of cakes and pastries.

Muffins have been around in Germany for a while now. The main difference in this recipe is the addition of starch and the fact that the original recipe apparently never heard of the “muffin method”, which would have rendered them crumbly and dry to an American palate. They still have a different texture due to the change in ingredients, but that’s just the German general taste. 😀

The recipe for these came from “Backen Macht Freude” (Dr. Oetker’s “German Baking Today), and the primary change I made was to leave out the chocolate chunks the recipe called for and added in pieces of marzipan, almond flavor, and sliced almonds on top. I also upped the sugar slightly.
Do you like marzipan? What’s your favorite marzipan treat?
Marzipan Almond Muffins, German Style
(Adapted from Dr. Oetker’s “Backen Macht Freude”/”German Baking Today”)

Ingredients:

• 200 g (1 2/3 cups) all-purpose flour
• 200 g (1 cup) sugar
• 43 g (1/3 cup) corn starch
• 3 teaspoons* (9 g or 2 tsp) baking powder [*denotes a real spoon]
• 20 g (1 1/2 tbsp) vanilla flavor
• 7 g (1/2 tbsp) almond flavor
• 200 g (3/4 cup or 1 3/4 sticks) butter, at room temperature
• 3 eggs
• 100 ml (1/2 cup) milk
• 100 g (1/2 cup) marzipan (almond paste), chopped into small pieces
• Sliced almonds for topping.

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 355 F (180 C).
Sift the flour, corn starch and baking powder into a bowl. Add the marzipan and stir a few times.
In the bowl of a mixer, add the sugar and eggs. Beat on medium high for about 2 minutes.
Add the butter, milk and flavors. Mix on medium high until well combined.
Pour the liquid into the dry ingredients and stir with a spoon until the flour is just about hydrated and the batter appears lumpy.
Variation: Add the dry ingredients and sugar to the mixer bowl. Slowly add the butter, milk, flavors and eggs. This will give you a more crumbly, drier texture. The marzipan is added as a last step.
Spray a muffin pan with baking spray and put a paper liner into each cavity. Fill the liners equally with muffin batter.
Sprinkle with sliced almonds right before baking.
Bake for about 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean and the muffins appear golden brown and have small peaks.
Yield: 12