October is a busy month for us. Sarah has just completed her semester 2 exams and has her high school graduation next week, before her final set of exams in November. I have a few deadlines looming which is keeping me busy in the craft room. In times of stress, it is great to slow down and enjoy the ride. I took Sunday morning off to do some baking to restock our pantry and freezer with some treats for the week ahead. I tried out a recipe for some spiced muffins, topped with a crunchy layer of streusel. The kitchen smelled heavenly while they were baking and we enjoyed them with a nice cup of tea. What is especially nice about these muffins is that they are very light and fluffy, and not overly sweet, allowing the fragrant spice to to shine through.
The recipe for these delicious Streusel Topped Muffins comes from Dorie Greenspans’ book – Baking: From My Home to Yours. We omitted the lemon zest, and used a wonderfully aromatic Apple Cake Spice Mix in place of the allspice. The apple cake spice mix is a blend of cassia, nutmeg, clove, allspice, ginger, pepper, rosehip, rose petal and chamomile and is just wonderful in these muffins. The Apple Cake Spice comes from Gewurzhaus. 
- For the Streusel:
- ½ cup plain (all purpose) flour
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon ground allspice (we used apple cake spice mix)
- 5 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into bits
- For the Muffins:
- 2 cups plain ( all purpose) flour
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon allspice (we used apple cake spice mix)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 2 large eggs
- ¾ cup whole milk
- ¼ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Centre a rack in the oven and preheat oven to 190 degrees C (375 degrees F). Grease or spray a regular-sized muffin pan or line with 12 cupcake liners. Place the muffin pan on a baking sheet.
- For the crumb topping, mix the flour, brown sugar, and allspice in a small bowl. Add the pieces of cold butter and mix with your hands by pinching the mixture between your fingers. Keep pinching until you have uneven crumbs. Set aside in the refrigerator (the crumb topping can be made up to 3 days ahead and stored, covered, in the refrigerator).
- For the muffins, whisk together the flour, granulated sugar, allspice, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Add in the brown sugar, and stir until no lumps remain. In a separate large bowl, mix together the melted butter, eggs, milk and vanilla extract until well combined. Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients. With a whisk or a rubber spatula, gently but quickly stir to blend. The batter will be lumpy.
- Evenly distribute the batter into the muffin cups. Sprinkle the crumb topping 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 centre 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. Muffins can be stored, in an airtight container, at room temperature for up to 5 days.
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