Muffins with Bosnian Coffee

Coffee means a lot in the Balkans and Sarajevo is not an exception. Every now and then you find yourself with a cup of fresh Bosnian coffee getting inspired by its fabulous smell. And people who visit us get surprised when they see how much coffee we consume a day - simply a lot! 

Anyway, this morning, while I was having my morning coffee, the idea of adding coffee to the Sunday muffins happily walked into my head. How come I hadn't thought of this before? The idea is simple: Make some coffee, cool it to the room temperature and add in to the muffin mixture along with the liquids. Cool, isn't it? Well, if you don't have any coffee from the Balkans on hand, no worries, Turkish coffee or espresso would also work with these muffins. However, remember to use less with the latter since espresso has a higher concentration and more caffeine than Bosnian coffee. 

Ingredients

2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup whole milk
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup brown sugar
2 medium eggs
2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 cup Bosnian coffee, cooled to room temperature 
powdered sugar (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 185 C and lightly grease or line a muffin pan with paper liners. 
2. In a big bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.
3. In a medium bowl, beat the sugar and eggs with a mixer until light and fluffy. Add the oil and milk beating well. Stir in the vanilla extract and the coffee. 
4. Combine the two mixtures, blending until the dry ingredients are moistened.

5. Fill the muffin cups about three-quarters full. Bake for about 15-18 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. 

6. Cool completely on a wire rack. Sprinkle with powdered sugar (optional).