Mini pumpkin spice crumb muffins

I've been looking forward to this weekend for a few weeks, since my friend and I are hosting a baby shower for another friend of ours!  There were a thousand things I wanted to bake, but only a day or two to get things done (work schedule is packed and I work super long days three days a week now).  These muffins definitely made the list, though!

Now I've said it before and I'll (have to) say it again: I hate pumpkin spice.  Like ugh, gross, despise it.  But almost everyone else loves it, including the mom-to-be, who told me she was "bad" when she got a pumpkin spice latte (caffeine is OK when pregnant, so I'm not sure why she thinks she was "bad," but I digress....).  So when hosting a baby shower for 13 women, including at least one who has confirmed her love for pumpkin spice, these muffins were a given!  Plus, they have the most heavenly looking crumb topping.  [I debated making these pumpkin spice latte cupcakes, but wanted something more breakfast/brunch-y.  And again, remember, crumbs!]

I ended up making mini muffins, since they were being served before lunch.  I halved the recipe since I didn't want to have an insane amount of muffins, and as it was I got 27 mini muffins with a half recipe.  I didn't, however, half the crumb topping since I figured mini muffins = more surface area, and I'd probably need extra crumbs.  As it ended up, I had leftover crumb topping, but that's fine.  Better to have too much than not enough!

* Full disclosure, it took me a long time to post this blog post, despite having written it and staging the photos at the time I baked them.  When I went to put the final edits on the post and add the recipe, the original link I had was defunct.  When I searched the blog again, I came across this recipe, which from my recollection is the same * 

Pumpkin Crumb Cake Muffins

From Sally's Baking Addiction

Ingredients:

For the muffins:

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour (spooned and leveled)

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup canola or vegetable oil

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup packed light or dark brown sugar

1 1/2 cups canned pumpkin puree

2 large eggs, at room temperature

1/4 cup milk, at room temperature

For the crumb topping:

3/4 cup all purpose flour (spooned and leveled)

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup packed light or dark brown sugar

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

6 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted

For the (optional) maple icing:

1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

2 Tbsp pure maple syrup

2 Tbsp milk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425F.

Spray a 2 x 12 count muffin pan with nonstick spray or line with cupcake liners.  This recipe makes 15 full sized muffins, so you'll need a second pan. (I made mini muffins, and used a 24-cavity mini muffin pan, but chose to use liners instead of spraying it; I halved the recipe and got 27 mini muffins, so you'd need do to this for at least 2 muffin pans).

Prepare the muffins.

In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, and salt together until combined.
Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk the oil, granulated sugar, brown sugar, pumpkin puree, eggs, and milk together until combined.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry.

Fold everything together gentlyy, just until combined and no flour pockets remain.

Spoon batter into liners, until almost full.

Make the crumb topping.

Whisk together the flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and pumpkin pie spice until combined.

Using a fork, lightly mix in the melted butter until crumbs form.

Do not over mix.

Spoon crumbs evenly on top of the batter and gently press them down into the batter.

Bake for 5 minutes at 425, then while the muffins are still in the oven, reduce the temperature to 350F.

Bake for an additional 16-17 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
For my mini muffins, I baked at 425 for 5 minutes, then lowered the heat to 350F and baked for 8 more minutes.  The newer version of this recipe says to bake mini muffins for 11-13 minutes at 350F the entire time.

Allow the muffins to cool in the pan for 10 minutes as you make the icing.

To make the icing, whisk the milk, maple syrup, and confectioners' sugar together until combined and smooth.  

Drizzle over muffins and serve warm.

*These can be stored at room temp for 1-2 days, in the fridge for up to a week, and can be frozen (with or without the icing, though I generally recommend freezing without icing and icing them once they've thawed).

Flourless blueberry almond muffins (Kosher for Passover)

Passover is here!  While some people I know (whose names will not be mentioned, but they know who they are) lament over the lack of food options during Passover.  Some might even say they *whine* about it.  But I digress.  Bottom line is: food options are limited.  However, one can at least attempt to make lemons out of lemonade, as I have tried.

First off, in a #juliebakesgoessavory endeavor, I made almond crusted chicken fingers for dinner the other night (check it out on my instagram feed).  Then I saw a recipe for Kosher for Passover Almond-Bluberry Muffins, and thought that (a) they sounded delicious, (b) B would love them, and (c) I already had almond meal on hand from the chicken fingers!

I made a few adjustments given what I had at home (Turbinado sugar instead of demerara, sweetened (cinnamon) applesauce instead of unsweetened, and slivered almonds instead of sliced), but they turned out absolutely delicious.  Just a heads up -- I followed the directions and ended up filling the 12 muffin tins and still had enough leftover batter to make 4 more muffins!

And an added bonus?  They're totally gluten-free (or at least can be made that way).  I don't do much gluten-free baking, but between the almond meal and coconut flour I picked up recently, I'm sure I could get int it a little more...

Hope everyone has a wonderful Passover!

Flourless Almond-Blueberry Muffins
(Kosher for Passover, and can be made gluten-free!)
From Epicurious

Ingredients:

2.5 cups almond meal
1 tsp ground cinnamon
5 large eggs, separated
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce
1/2 tsp kosher salt (crushed between your fingers as you add it)
1/2 pint (about 1 1/3 cups)
Sliced almonds (for sprinkling)
Demerara or raw sugar (for sprinkling)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350F.
Line a standard 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners (keep a few extra liners around, in case you have extra batter).
Whisk almond meal and cinnamon in a medium bowl.
Set aside.

Using an electric mixer on high speed, beat egg yolks, granulated sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl until pale and doubled in size, about 3 minutes.
Add almond meal mixture and apple sauce.
Stir just to combine.

In another bowl: use an electric mixer on high speed to beat the egg whites and salt (crushing it between your fingers as you add it to the egg whites) until stiff peaks form, about 3 minutes.
Add half of the egg white mixture to the almond meal mixture.
Fold to combine.
Then add remaining egg white mixture.
Fold to combine.
Gently fold in blueberries.

Divide the batter among muffin cups (I filled mine full and then had enough batter to make 4 more muffins).
Top with almonds and demerara sugar.

Bake muffins until tops are golden brown and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, about 30 minutes (mine took 25 minutes).
Transfer to a wire rack.
Let cool in pan for at least 10 minutes before serving.

*They can be made 3 days ahead.

New York-style coffee cake crumb muffins

The red velvet bundt cake I made in honor of B's visitor was a huge hit.  It made for a delicious breakfast along with some espressos today and amped us up for a walking culinary tour of the city.  I left the boys and -- since I was nearby -- stopped at my baking store.  I had had in mind that I wanted to make these amazing sounding New York-Style Coffee Crumb Cake Muffins for a while (I even bought the cake flour and rest of the ingredients the other day), so while I was at the baking store, I picked up some mini panettone baking cups, since I thought they'd make the muffins* cuter.

* Why did I say muffins and not muffins?  Because frankly I'm pretty sure they're just mini coffee crumb cakes and not actually muffins.  But that's neither here nor there.

So this recipe?  EASY.  And taste-wise?  DELISH!  Because despite bringing them to B and his visitor for breakfast tomorrow, I had to make sure they were edible.  Clearly.  So I tasted one (just one, I was good, we were going out for dinner soon thereafter) to make sure I (a) wouldn't poison them, and (b) wouldn't ruin my new-found reputation as a great baker!

New York-Style Coffee Cake Crumb Muffins

Ingredients:

For the crumb topping:

1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp salt
8 Tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 3/4 cups cake flour

For the muffin (or as I say, mini cakes):

1 1/4 cup cake flour
1/2 granulated sugar
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
6 Tbsp (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, softened but still cool, cut into 6 1 Tbsp pieces
1 large egg
1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup buttermilk (or 1/3 cup plain yogurt) -- I used the buttermilk, since I had leftovers in my fridge

Garnish:

Powdered sugar

Directions (adapted from the original recipe):

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
Line a cupcake tin with paper cups - or if using pannettone baking cups, spray them lightly with cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the granulated and brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt.
Pour the melted butter over the mixture and use a wooden spoon to mix them.
Add the cake flour and mix until it resembles a thick pasty dough.
Set the topping aside.

Put the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt in a stand mixer.
Mix with the paddle attachment, on low speed.
While on low, add the butter, 1 piece at a time.
Continue beating the mixture until it resembles moist crumbs (no visible butter chunks seen), 1-2 minutes.

Measure the buttercream in a 1-cup liquid measuring cup.
Add the egg and egg yolk, and the vanilla.
Add the liquid mixture to the dry.
Mix until all of the liquid has been incorporated and the batter is light and fluffy.
(Mine was light but not fluffy, so I increased the speed for a few minutes to make it fluffy.)

Using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, scoop 1/4 cup into each muffin tin or panettone cup.
Mine barely had enough for that, so maybe I didn't make it quite fluffy enough or maybe I didn't measure it quite perfectly.
Sprinkle the crumb topping generously onto each muffin top.
Don't press the topping down into the batter, just let is rest on top.

Bake for 20 minutes, or until crumbs are golden and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.
(Mine were seriously underbaked at 20 minutes, plus an additional 30 seconds under the broiler.  This was despite having tested them with a toothpick to make sure they were done.  Of course by then they were already out of the oven, so once I realized that upon tasting a muffin, I stored them in the fridge overnight and then baked them again the following morning, for about another 20 minutes.  I have to say, they're super delicious warm out of the oven!!)

Let muffins cool in tins for 5 minutes.
Transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Muffins can be stored in an airtight container for up to 2 days.....if they even last that long!!

When ready to serve, dust with some powdered sugar!

Mini blueberry muffins

I signed up for my first 5K this weekend.  I'm part of a team, and we're meeting before the race (and I use the term "race" loosely, as it's more of a walk/run, where I'll be doing the former), getting our team t-shirts, and heading over together.  Since the meeting time is scheduled for 8:45 a.m., I decided I'd be "team mom" (really the only title I'll ever hold on an athletic team, since I lack any athletic ability) and bake some homemade (mini) muffins.

I have to admit, I've been making this blueberry muffin recipe for years.  It originally had the title of "To Die For Blueberry Muffins," but I copied it and never wrote down where I got it from, so I can't give the proper person credit for the muffin recipe.  It is so simple that anyone can make them, and it only takes 1 bowl (for the muffins, a second bowl for the crumb topping) - and I literally mix it with a fork.  No fancy mixers needed!  (This also happens to be THE recipe that I bring to bridal showers when I get asked to bring a recipe card for the bride-to-be.)

To Die For Blueberry Muffins

Ingredients:

Muffins:

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1/3 cup milk (you might need a little more....see below)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup fresh blueberries (in a bind and can't find fresh blueberries?  Frozen work well, too...I used frozen in this batch)

Crumb topping:

1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup butter, cubed (and softened ever so slightly - it makes it easier to mush to make the crumbs)
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400F.  Grease or line muffin cups (I think the recipe makes 8-12 full sized muffins, however I made mini ones today and got 40.  Yes, I have 40 mini blueberry muffins in my kitchen right now).

2. Combine dry ingredients for muffins.  Place oil into a 1-cup measuring cup and add the egg.  Add enough milk to fill the cup.  The original recipe forgets to tell you to add the vanilla.  I put it into the measuring cup after I've added the milk, and add all the wet ingredients together.

3. Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.

4. Fold in the blueberries.

5. Fill muffin cups right to the top (I didn't fill the mini muffin cups completely....I honestly don't remember what I do when I make them full-sized, since it has been a while).

6. Make the crumb topping: mix together all the ingredients for the crumb topping, mixing it with a fork to break up the butter cubes.

7. Sprinkle the muffins with the crumb topping.

8. Bake for 20-25 minutes (for full-sized, 10 minutes for mini), or until done.