Sunday Slow Bake: Raspberry Streusel Muffins

Breaking the rules of the Sunday Slow Bake process had mixed results for Bookery founder, Mandy Crow

In all transparency, this was a Sunday Slow Bake. . . on a Saturday. I made these muffins on a Saturday afternoon, knowing I would be spending most of the next afternoon driving to Missouri to stay with my family for a week after my dad had knee replacement surgery. 

It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of Deb Perelman, the cook behind the Smitten Kitchen website. I’ve been following her for a long time, own at least one of her cookbooks and make her recipes often. Not long ago, I saw an Instagram story featuring Deb’s raspberry streusel muffin recipe, and I immediately knew I’d be making them very soon. Since I was traveling to see my family, it just seemed natural to make a little treat to bring along. 

So, on a hot Saturday afternoon, I set about making these muffins as part of my weekly “Slow Bake” practice. For me, Sunday Slow Bake is a chance to unplug and focus my attention and focus on one thing: making a recipe. Baking is something I love, but I don’t like to bake when I feel rushed or pinched for time. Somehow, hurrying through a new recipe just sucks the joy out of baking for me—and often means I end up messing something up in my rush to get it done in whatever time I have available. So, setting aside time each weekend to just focus on a recipe and the steps to complete it—well, that’s like a gift for me. 

Here’s what I learned from my first-ever Saturday Slow Bake: 

• One of my prerequisites for Sunday Slow Bake is that my phone is turned off or in the other room while I’m making the recipe. This was the first time that I skipped that step and used my phone to reference the recipe, rather than taking a few minutes to write the recipe down and use the card for reference. As a result, I felt a bit distracted during the whole process, paranoid I was going to make a mistake simply because I scrolled past a step or ingredient too quickly.
  

• I doubled the recipe because I wanted to make a dozen muffins. In hindsight, the six would have been fine because this recipe makes BIG muffins. But I didn’t know that and doubled it, which created a really thick batter. I was already paranoid about messing something up and doubling the recipe on the fly at the end of a long day. . . probably not the best idea I’ve ever had.
  

• Another first for this Slow Bake: I left the TV on in the living room while I was baking. My house isn’t open concept, so I couldn’t see the TV, but I could definitely hear it. At one point, the TV got really quiet and I found myself standing in the kitchen wondering why—which made me realized that my mind had been on the TV, not what I was doing. It’s funny how easily all the voices in our culture grab your attention, even when you’re trying to focus on something else.
  

• As a result of a couple of choices I made (keeping the TV on and using my phone to make the recipe), I felt very disconnected while I was making this recipe. That’s not the way I want to feel when I do a Sunday Slow Bake, so in future practices, I’ll go back to my rule of fully unplugging from everything while I make the recipe.

While this may not have been my most successful Sunday Slow Bake practice, the muffins were really good—and I’ll definitely be making them again!