These Maple Walnut Muffins are perfect for big weekend breakfasts - with a deep maple flavor, speckled with toasted walnuts and topped with an (optional) maple glaze.
Preheat the oven to 400°. Spray your muffin tins with vegetetable spray or line them with paper liners and spray the liners. Set aside. Note, you can use regular muffin tins or mini muffins. This will make 18 large muffins or about 36-40 mini muffins.
Toast The Walnuts
Place the walnuts on a baking sheet and toast them in the hot oven for 5-7 minutes or until fragrant and lightly browned. Remove from heat to cool. Chop the walnuts and set aside.
Make the Muffins
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl, combine the butter and sugar. Use a hand mixer to beat until the two are very well incorporated, about 2 minutes.
Add eggs one at a time and beat until the egg is fully mixed into the butter mixture before adding the next egg.
Add the maple flavoring, sour cream and buttermilk. Mix until well blended.
Add the dry ingredients and mix on low speed until they are just moistened.
Stir in the walnuts and scoop the batter into the prepared muffin tins.
Bake The Muffins
For Large Muffins: bake for 18-22 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean when stuck into the middle of a muffin.For Mini Muffins: bake 12-15 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean when stuck into the middle of a muffin.
Make The Glaze (optional)
In a small bowl, combine the powdered sugar, milk and maple flavoring. Stir until there are no lumps and the glaze is smooth.
When the muffins have cooled to room temperature, drizzle the glaze over the top and let set. For mini muffins, turn them upside down and swirl the muffin tops in the glaze to coat. Transfer to a cooling rack to dry before serving.