Almond Joy Muffins

I can hardly believe this, but apparently I have never posted this recipe here in my Christmas kitchen.  It appears several places on my regular blog, but I could not find it in a search here. 

Since you really need this muffin recipe in your baking repertoire,  I am sharing it today.

ALMOND JOY MUFFINS

2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup margarine, melted
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup sour cream OR plain yogurt
1/2 teaspoon coconut extract
1 cup flaked coconut
1/2 cup chocolate chips
Almonds (either chopped, sliced, or whole) and sugar for tops of muffins

Preheat oven to 375º. Grease 12 muffin cups. Sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. In a large bowl, combine margarine, eggs, sour cream (OR yogurt), and extract. Stir in the sifted dry ingredients until just combined well. The batter will be lumpy. Stir in the coconut and chocolate chips. Spoon the batter into the greased muffin cups. Top each with a sprinkle of chopped or sliced almonds (or 3 whole almonds) and a little sugar. Bake in preheated 375º oven for 18 minutes or until muffins test done. Makes 1 dozen muffins.

Almond Joy Muffins are a great favorite in our family. They would be perfect for Christmas breakfast, but would make a wonderful addition to any special-occasion or holiday breakfast or brunch. I found the recipe in an old newspaper years ago and  tweaked it a bit to better suit our tastes.

Several years ago, this recipe was published in Simple and Delicious magazine under a slightly different name.   It's a story for another day -- how I was surprised by my own recipe while browsing a magazine in a distant state, not to mention how I reconnected with an old friend by means of that published recipe.  Meanwhile, if the weather is cool enough where you are, why not bake up a batch of these muffins and see how you like them?