Dorie’s Allspice Crumb Muffins
Recipe Notes Adapted from Dorie Greenspan's cookbook, Baking: From My Home to Yours.
Makes 9 to 12 muffins.
Ingredients
Streusel Ingredients:
½ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup packed light brown sugar
½ teaspoon ground allspice
5 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into bits
Muffin Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
½ cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon ground allspice
¼ teaspoon salt ¼ cup (packed) light brown sugar
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 large eggs
¾ cup whole milk
¼ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Optional: Grated zest of 1 lemon
Directions
Center a rack in the oven and preheat to 375°F. Fit a regular-size muffin pan with paper muffin liners, or butter, grease or spray cavities.
To make the streusel:
Put the flour, brown sugar, and allspice in a small bowl and sift them through your fingers to blend. Add the bits of cold butter and toss to coat, then use your fingers to work the butter into the dry ingredients until you’ve got irregularly shaped crumbs. Put the mixture into the fridge until you’re ready to use it. (It can be made up to three days ahead; keep refrigerated and covered.)
To make the muffins:
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, allspice, and salt. Stir in the brown sugar, making certain there are no lumps.
In another bowl, whisk the melted butter, eggs, milk, and vanilla extract together 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 look lumpy. If you’re using the lemon zest, now’s the time to stir it in. Divide the batter among the muffin cups. I usually fill only 9 of the 12 cups, because I like big, plump muffins!
Sprinkle streusel over each muffin, them use your fingertips to gently press the crumbs into the batter. Bake for 20 minutes, or until the tops are golden and a knife inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for 5 minutes before carefully removing each muffin from its mold.
If you don’t gobble them up immediately, the muffins can be stored in an air-tight container. To warm one up, pop it into the microwave for a few seconds (in my microwave, the magic number is 22); it’ll taste like it’s fresh and hot from the oven.