Allspice Crumb Muffins

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I found this recipe over at the Brown Eyed Baker. They turned out well, despite not being a huge allspice fan, I liked them. They were very simple to put together, you probably have most of the ingredients in your cupboard/fridge so there were no special shopping trips necessary. They transport well as I had to take them to a neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt this morning.

This recipe is the last for #muffinmonth , I enjoyed my month of muffins but I am ready to move on and try out some other things.

INGREDIENTS

For the Streusel:
½ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup light brown sugar
½ teaspoon ground allspice
5 Tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into bits
For the Muffins:
2 cups all-purpose flour
½ cup granulated sugar
1 Tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon ground allspice
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ cup light brown sugar
1 stick (8 Tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 large eggs
¾ cup whole milk
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS
Center a rack in the oven and preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Butter or spray the 12 molds in a regular-size muffin pan or line with paper cups. Place the muffin pan on a baking sheet.

To make the streusel, put the flour, brown sugar, and allspice in a small bowl and whisk to combine. Add the bits of cold butter and toss, pinching the mixture between your fingers, until you have pea-sized crumbs. Set aside in the refrigerator. (The streusel can be made up to 3 days ahead and stored, covered, in the refrigerator.)

To make the muffins, in a large bowl whisk together the flour, granulated sugar, allspice, baking powder, and salt. Stir in the brown sugar, making certain there are no lumps. In a large glass measuring cup or another bowl, whisk together the melted butter, eggs, milk and vanilla extract until well combined. Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients and with the whisk or a rubber spatula, gently but quickly stir to blend. The batter will be lumpy; that is how it should be.

Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups. Sprinkle streusel over each muffin, then use your fingertips to gently press the crumbs into the batter.

Bake for about 20 minutes, or until the tops are golden and a thin knife inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and cool for 5 minutes before carefully removing each muffin. Cool completely on the wire rack. Muffins can be stored, in an airtight container, at room temperature for up to 5 days.

Pear & Granola Muffins

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These muffins are OK. They are supposed to be healthy, maybe that's why I didn't love them... but I loved the Healthy Morning Muffins or maybe it's because I used greek yogurt instead of plain low fat yogurt as the recipe suggested. They weren't bad, they just weren't my favorite.

INGREDIENTS

For Muffins
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole-wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 large eggs
3/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
1/2 cup plain low-fat yogurt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 D'Anjou pears (2 cups), peeled and cut into 1/4-inch dice
3/4 cup plain granola

For Granola Crisp Topping
(or use an additional 3/4 cup plain granola)
1/2 cup granola
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter


DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a 12-cup standard muffin tin with paper liners; set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together flours, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.

In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, brown sugar, yogurt, and butter. Make a well in the center of flour mixture. Add egg mixture to well, and mix in flour mixture until just combined. Gently fold in the granola and pears.

Make Granola Crisp Topping: In a bowl, toss together 1/2 cup granola, 1/4 cup each all-purpose flour and packed light-brown sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Cut 3 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter into pieces; add to granola mixture, and rub in with fingertips until clumps form.

Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each 3/4 full. Sprinkle with granola topping. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Cool 5 minutes before removing from tin. Serve warm or at room temperature.

#MuffinMonth is coming to an end, I think I've only got one more muffin recipe in me... for now that is. Here are a few more tips to improve your muffin baking experience!
Muffin Baking Tips: 
1. If muffin cups are filled more than 3/4 full the top of the muffin will come out flat as opposed to rounded.
2. If some muffin cups will remain empty during baking, fill unused cups with 2 to 3 tablespoons of water to keep pan from warping
3. If baked muffins stick to the bottom of the muffin cup, place hot pan on wet towel for roughly two minutes.

Healthy Morning Muffins

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This is actually a really easy recipe despite having to shred the carrots, it was quick as well. #muffinmonth is now in full swing, if you'd like to see any other muffin recipes please post in the comments.

INGREDIENTS
Nonstick cooking spray

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
1/2 cup packed dark-brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup raisins
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 large egg
1/3 cup skim milk
4 medium carrots, shredded
1 medium ripe banana, mashed

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Coat a 12-cup muffin pan with cooking spray. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder, nutmeg, and salt until there are no lumps. Stir in oats and raisins. Add oil, egg, milk, carrots, and banana and stir until blended.

Fill each muffin cup with 1/4 cup batter. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of a muffin comes out clean, 23 to 25 minutes. Serve muffins warm or at room temperature.

Muffin Baking Tips:
1. For the best results use fresh baking soda & baking powder 
2. Mix by hand and NOT with an electric mixer to avoid over-mixing, as a general rule muffin batter should appear lumpy
3. To store muffins, place some folded paper towels at the bottom of your container to collect extra moisture. Muffins are best served fresh because they do have a lot of moisture, over time that moisture will collect on the surface of your muffin and change the overall texture. 

Coconut Pineapple Muffins

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March is #muffinmonth on the blog! So today I decided on coconut & pineapple since I happened to have both of those ingredients. I found this recipe on another blog here.

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons shredded unsweetened coconut
3 egg whites
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2/3 cup sour cream
1 cup pineapple, diced into small pieces
2 teaspoons dark rum OR vanilla (I used vanilla only because I didn't have any dark rum)


DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Butter and flour a muffin pan, or line with muffin paper liners.
In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt, 6 tablespoons of the sugar, and 1/4 cup of the coconut. In another bowl, whisk the sour cream, butter, egg whites, and rum (or vanilla) together until smooth. Stir in the diced pineapple.

Stir the dry ingredients into the sour cream mixture and stir with a spoon until just combined, do not overmix.
Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin pan, filling each cup to about 3/4 of the way full. In a small bowl, combine the remaining 2 tablespoons of the coconut and 2 tablespoons of the brown sugar. Sprinkle over the muffin batter.
Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 20-25 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

Blueberry Streusel Muffins

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I hereby proclaim March to be "Muffin Month" meaning that most of the recipes for this month will be muffins! For today, I made Blueberry Streusel Muffins, why all the blueberry recipes you might ask? I had a whole bunch of frozen blueberries in the freezer, I think this was finally the last of them.

INGREDIENTS
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup cooking oil
3/4 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
1 recipe Streusel Topping (see below) - this is optional

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease twelve 2 1/2 inch muffin cups or line with paper cups; set aside. In a medium bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Make a well in center of flour mixture; set aside.

2. In another bowl combine egg, milk, and oil. Add egg mixture all at once to flour mixture. Stir just until moistened (batter should be lumpy). Gently fold in blueberries.

3. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups, filling each two-thirds full. If desired, sprinkle streuesel topping over muffin batter in cups (see below). Bake 18 to 20 minutes or until golden and a wooden toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. cool in muffin cups on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Remove from cups; serve warm.

Optional Streusel Topping: In a small bowl stir together 3 tablespoons of all-purpose flour, 3 tablespoons of packed brown sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon of ground cinnamon. Cut in 2 tablespoons of butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Upcoming Recipes:

Cheese Muffins

Crumb Cake Muffins

Healthy Morning Muffins

Zucchini Banana and Flax Seed Muffins

Do you have any favorite muffin recipes? What muffins would you like to see for the month of March? Post in the comments below: