Nectarine muffins.

You know that bit in The Notebook, where Allie says, "Most of the time I have all these thoughts bouncing around in my head, but with a brush in my hand, the world just gets kinda quiet"? That's how I am with baking. I don't care if my world seems like it's falling apart. Give me some dough to tend to, and I'll be okay. 

On the flip side, if I go a couple weeks without baking, I get a little antsy. Which is why I made muffins the other day. Well, that and the fact that the nectarines were about to go bad.

These are the perfect breakfast muffins. Not overly sweet, but still full of flavor. (Confession: I initially typed flavour...oops! These Brits are just too darn influential.) Anywho, let's bake.

Ingredients:

3 cups flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1 cup milk

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup (heaping) diced nectarine (about 2 nectarines)

1 1/2 tbsp brown sugar (for topping)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400°F (about 200°C). Grease or line muffin tin.

Combine flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon in a large bowl. Stir in the brown sugar, making sure to get the lumps out. Make a well in the center of the mixture.

In another bowl, combine butter and milk. Add the eggs. Pour into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined, being careful not to overmix. Mixture will be lumpy (as all good muffin batter should be).

Gently fold in the diced nectarines.

Spoon batter into the prepared muffin tin. Sprinkle with brown sugar for extra goodness. 

Bake for about 15 minutes (mine were done around 13), or until golden brown. Watch them fairly closely after about 12 minutes -- after all the love and care you've put into these babies, it'd be a shame if they came out too dry! If you're not sure, do the toothpick test.  

Cool on a wire rack before serving.

Notes: I made a half batch, and got 8 muffins (though I did fill the tins up quite a bit), so you can expect to get anywhere from 16-18 from the full recipe. Also, if and when I make these again, I'll add some strawberries. I think that'd take em to the next level of amazingness.