Nigella's Baklava Muffins

Nigella Lawson is my all-time favorite chef.

Many years ago, I used to watch her first show, "Nigella Bites," on the E! channel...I think it was picked up off of some London network. Eventually the Food Network found her, and she had a show a few years ago that I would watch religiously from my tiny garden apartment in Oregon. Anyway, this morning

I delightfully discovered that the Food Network is once again airing a Nigella show! "Nigella's Kitchen" airs on Sunday mornings at 7 a.m. MST.

I love Nigella's passion, her messy cooking style, and how she adoringly describes food with big, poetic words. I love her thick, throaty, English-accented voice, and how beautiful she is - she's not some lollipop-headed chick trying to sell "skinny" recipes. I love how her shows always conclude with a shot of her sneaking into the kitchen late at night to munch on leftovers by the light of the fridge.

Mostly, I love her recipes. Some of my all-time favorites: chocolate gingerbread, Nana's hachapuri, North American salad, sage-and-onion chicken and sausage,

and of course, her nearly famous brownies! Today, I whipped up another favorite: baklava muffins. There's nothing better than a warm, honey-drizzled, sugary-walnut-filled muffin on a cold Sunday morning!

Nigella's Baklava Muffins

recipe from How to Be a Domestic Goddess

Filling
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
1/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
3 tablespoons butter, melted

Muffins
1 cup + 7 T. flour (I like whole wheat)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 cup + 2 T. buttermilk

Topping
1/2 cup honey

1. Preheat oven to 400F degrees. Mix all the filling ingredients together in a small bowl, set aside.

2. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and sugar. In a separate bowl, mix the egg, melted butter and buttermilk.

3. Make a well in the dry ingredients and add gently mix in the wet ingredients. If the batter is too thick, add a bit more milk.

4. Fill 6 muffin cups 1/3 full, add a scant tablespoon of filling, cover with more muffin mixture until 2/3 full. Sprinkle any remaining filling on top of the muffins. Bake for 15 minutes.

5. Put the muffins onto a rack to cool and drizzle with honey (it may be easier to drizzle the honey if it has been warmed first).

Makes 6 jumbo muffins.