Cherry Poppy Seed Muffins -- Tyler Florence Fridays

Time for Tyler Florence Fridays! This morning I made a batch of Tyler's Cherry Poppy Seed Muffins for breakfast, and used our Nordic Ware Backyard Bugs Pan.

My daughter, who is almost four, is really interested in insects. I got this pan with her in mind and she absolutely loved having little bug shaped muffins for breakfast, as did both little brothers :) The boys have their own little special muffins pans as well, my youngest who is obsessed with Thomas the train has a train pan, and my middle, who loves cars and trucks, has the car and truck pan, both by Nordic Ware. I love shaped pans and these are a fun way to liven up muffins or cupcakes.

Cherry Poppy Seed Muffins

Tyler Florence

1/2 cup unsalted butter -- melted, plus more for greasing the pan

2 cups flour, all-purpose -- plus more for dusting the cherries

1 cup sugar -- plus more for dusting the top

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup milk

2 large eggs -- lightly beaten

1 tablespoon poppy seeds

Zest of 1 orange, finely grated

1 cup dried cherries

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Grease a standard 12-cup muffin tin, preferably nonstick, with butter. I used Baker's Joy spray.

In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt together until evenly combined.In another bowl, whisk together the milk and eggs; then add the melted butter, poppy seeds, and orange zest.

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Pour the wet ingredients into the well; fold everything together to form a batter.

Toss the cherries with some flour to help prevent them from sinking to the bottom of the muffin when baked, and then fold them into the batter.

Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tins, filling them two-thirds full.

Dust the surface of the batter with a little sugar to form a crust as the muffins bake. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until a wooden toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center muffin.

Results and Changes: We loved these muffins (mostly, my picky husband is apparently not a fan of dried cherries). They had a nice buttery crispy exterior and were moist and flavorful in the middle. I turned the oven temperature down to 350 because that is the temperature for the recipe that came with the pan, they were perfectly baked at 20 minutes. Just like last week with the pancakes for TFF, I didn't get to get any good pictures because everyone was so eager to have these with breakfast, oh-well.