Peach Muffins

One of the vendors that supplies Enjoy!, the store I manage is a Texas company called “Wimberly Valley Gourmet.  Of the products they make we carry their avocado oil, pecan oil, Mexican vanilla, and balsamic vinegar.  A few weeks ago we were throwing a party and invited the owners to join us and educate our customers about their products and how to best use them.They were preparing some of the foods we would be tasting but did not have access to an oven.  I offered to bake something using the pecan oil as I’d been itching to try it in a recipe, but like most of our customers I wasn’t sure how to use it.  Valerie Green, the lovely lady who owns WVG told me to bake anything and substitute the pecan oil for the oil called for in the recipe.  I wanted a simple recipe that would showcase the flavor of the pecan oil.

I chose a basic muffin recipe and used butter and pecan oil in place of all butter or all oil.  With peach season in full force I added them to liven up the muffins.  Everyone could taste the slight nuttiness from the oil and remarked at how moist and tender they were.  The peaches and pecan oil enhanced each other and added just the right touch of sweetness to an otherwise plain muffin.  Quick and easy, they were a big hit and what we discovered was, dribbling a bit of balsamic vinegar on the muffins was a delicious twist!

With the new twist this post is perfect for “Our Growing Edge“.  You’ll find all sorts of new twists on recipes bloggers all over the world are trying .  This month it is hosted by The Veggie Mama.  Check it out.

Enjoy!
Peach Muffins
Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp. Baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 large eggs
1 cup of cream
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup pecan oil
3/4 cup diced peaches
1 tsp. Mexican vanilla

Preheat oven to 400*F.  Whisk together dry ingredients in a large bowl.  In another bowl whisk together the remaining ingredients except for the peaches.  Add the dry mixture to the wet and mix together with a few light strokes, just until the dry ingredients are moistened.  Gently fold in peaches.  Grease a standard 12-muffin pan and divide batter evenly among cups.

Bake about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Let cool for 2-3 minutes before removing from the pan.  Serve as soon as possible or allow to come to room temperature for enjoying later.