Mango and Sour Cream Muffins with Streusel Topping

March and the peas went in on the first. This is my ninth year planting peas on March first, which is enough years for it to feel like a belief rather than a habit. The peas know to come when I put them in. I know to put them in when March arrives. We have an agreement, the garden and I, developed over years of keeping our part of it.

I drove to Huntsville Monday for Caleb's first solid food celebration — Shanice started him on a wider variety this week: soft pear, a little mashed banana, rice cereal. He received the banana with great enthusiasm and the rice cereal with the suspicion it deserved. I watched him from across the kitchen table as Shanice offered each new thing and I thought: this is how it begins. This is the first cooking lesson, the one no one thinks of as a cooking lesson — when someone who loves you puts something in front of you and you learn whether you like it, whether to trust the person offering it, whether the world is a place of good flavors or unpredictable ones. I believe it is both. I hope he arrives at that conclusion on his own terms.

Bernice's Table planning meeting Wednesday. Odalys presented a proposal for a Saturday morning cooking class for young people, which she has been thinking about since Kezia started coming years ago. The idea: once a month, a Saturday morning class in the church kitchen for anyone twelve to twenty-two. Deontay would co-lead. I would come when I can. The committee approved it. We begin in April. I thought about what Kezia said at the demonstration — she pointed at me and said, Miss Loretta is still here. The table keeps growing. The circle keeps widening. That is exactly what it is supposed to do.

Watching Caleb lean into that mashed banana with his whole small self — open-mouthed, trusting, completely committed — I came home wanting to bake something that honored that spirit of introduction, of offering something sweet and unfamiliar and letting a person decide for themselves. These mango and sour cream muffins are exactly that kind of recipe: fruit-forward and tender, with a streusel top that gives you something to look forward to with every bite. I made a batch the morning after I got home from Huntsville, and I thought of him the whole time.

Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 22 minutes | Total Time: 42 minutes | Servings: 12 muffins

Ingredients

Streusel Topping:
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
Muffin Batter:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup full-fat sour cream
1/3 cup whole milk
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups fresh or thawed frozen mango, diced into 1/2-inch pieces

Instructions

Preheat and prepare. Preheat your oven to 375°F. Line a standard 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners or grease each cup thoroughly with butter or nonstick spray.
Make the streusel. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, and cinnamon. Add the cold butter pieces and work them in with your fingers, pressing and rubbing until the mixture resembles coarse, pea-sized crumbs. Set aside in the refrigerator while you prepare the batter.
Combine the dry ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until evenly mixed.
Whisk the wet ingredients. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, sour cream, milk, melted butter, and vanilla extract until smooth and fully combined.
Fold together. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir gently with a rubber spatula until just combined — a few streaks of flour remaining is fine. Do not overmix. Fold in the diced mango with two or three gentle strokes.
Fill the muffin cups. Divide the batter evenly among the 12 prepared muffin cups, filling each about 3/4 full. Remove the streusel from the refrigerator and sprinkle a generous pinch over the top of each muffin.
Bake. Bake for 20 to 22 minutes, until the tops are golden and a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs attached.
Cool before serving. Allow the muffins to cool in the tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature. Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to two days, or refrigerate for up to five.

Nutrition (per serving)

Mango and Sour Cream Muffins with Streusel Topping — What We Learn When Someone Puts Something New in Front of Us