In making these muffins, which were meant to be maple walnut muffins, I ran out of maple syrup and substituted with honey. Doesn't everyone want the honey after all?

Soundtrack du jour: A collection of honey songs (and how many songs are there referencing maple, anyway? Indeed, there are some, but they don't belong here)…

Cinerama (one of my favorite bands) – "Honey Rider"

Sleater-Kinney – "Milkshake n Honey"
"I've always been a guy with a sweet tooth, and that girl was just like a king-sized candy bar…"

Fiona Apple – "Slow Like Honey"

Ian McCulloch – "Honey Drip"

Honey Walnut Coffee Cake Muffins

For honey-walnut streusel-like filling
1/2 cup flour
2 tablespoons soft butter
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 1/4 cups coarsely chopped walnuts
1/2 cup honey (if you want to make these with maple, just use maple syrup here instead)

To make: Mix butter and cinnamon in a medium bowl and mix with a fork until crumbly. Mix in walnuts and honey (or maple syrup). Honey produces a much stickier mixture.

For Cake
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup soft butter
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup sour cream or plain yogurt

Preheat oven to 350F.

You can make this in a bundt pan (which you would grease and flour) or you can make in cupcake form.

In a small bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda. Set aside. In another, larger bowl, beat sugar and butter until fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, add in vanilla. Beat in flour mixture in two additions, alternating with sour cream/vanilla, just until blended. Do not overmix.

Spoon half of batter into prepared pan or cupcake forms. Spoon honey or maple filling over batter. Spread remaining batter over filling and smooth top(s). For a bundt cake, bake about 40 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted comes out clean. (I made extra-large cupcakes and set them on a cookie sheet (good thing since they overflowed. This took about 30 minutes, perhaps a bit longer. You will want to keep a close eye on them in the oven. Cupcakes always take a bit less time than a cake).

Transfer bundt pan to rack and cool 15 minutes. Run knife around pan sides to loosen cake. Remove to a wire rack to cool. If you made cupcakes, let them cool for a few minutes and then remove to a wire rack.