Anyway. I was excited by the comments from the other bakers. Most really loved it and praised the flavors and simplicity. As an added bonus, it was chosen by my internet friend, Kayte. She has amazing taste, so I knew this would be a winner. I really enjoy her blog. (Grandma's Kitchen Table) The boy and I set out making them this afternoon.
It was an easy recipe. Three bowls. One muffin tin. First up was the streusel. It was basic - butter, flour, brown sugar, and allspice. Dorie likes fingers for blending. I like my pastry blender.
Cutest sous chef ever.
Then comes the muffin. It's your basic formula. Wet ingredients get quickly blended into the dry ingredients. The muffins were scooped. (By the way, if you do not yet have an ice cream scoop for muffins and cupcakes, get one!) I got 12 muffins in the tin and two extras. The streusel was strewn on top. Here's where it got a little... off. I had more streusel than muffin top. But since I love the stuff, I put it all on anyway. Into the oven they went. Lots of good smells in my kitchen.
And out they came. Not so streusel looking. It's more like there's a sugar crust on top of the muffins. It's not a bad thing, but I was disappointed. They are not pretty. They did taste good, though. I wasn't bowled over as some of the other bakers were. I think they're good, but there needed to be more of something. Cinnamon maybe? I know that allspice was supposed to be the star here, but I didn't get a whole lot of the flavor. I think if I was to make this recipe again, I would add in some pecans or something. Maybe a bit less butter as well. There was a small puddle of butter in each of the muffin wells after I had taken the muffins out.
Dorie's notes say that the flavor intensifies overnight, so maybe in the morning the flavor will be more pronounced. The other tasters in the house enjoyed these. Maybe it's just me.
Here's one of the extra muffins. It was in this cute little heart-shaped foil pan. Here it is from the bottom.
Ooops. Here's a lesson -- don't over fill your muffin cups!
Thanks Kayte for the change of pace. Go visit her blog to see the recipe. Or go buy the book already.
14 comments:
I'm with you on these. Glad I wasn't the only one! :) Love the heart shape! I might try again w/ lemon zest.
I agree with you about the pastry blender. And the addition of cinnamon too.
I only filled my muffin cups half full and they still ran over.
I love that muffin heart!! I loved mine...but I added cinnamon and apples to my batter...maybe that made the difference! What a cute lil sous chef!!!
Yeah - even though I used cinnamon, the flavor wasn't really strong on these. But no matter - the kids ate them up.
I had a lot of butter in the pan too. I thought it was just me!
Well, I think they look pretty. And, that photo of THE BOY looks really cute...tell him I thought he did a fine job of it all. I agree, this recipe is great, but there are endless possibilities for add-ins and add-ons! I intend on visiting most of them. Happy you baked along with these...always fun to stop by here and see what you come up with each week. A muffin heart...how sweet was that!
I thought about using a pastry blender and really should have. Glad you had a little helper though! :)
I think your muffins look great, and your little boy is adorable.
I had too much struesel topping, too, and, like you, I had a dozen in the pan and two extras. Mine weren't very pretty when they came out of the oven, but they tasted good. Your sous chef is adorable!
With a little arthritis settling in my fingers, I get better results with a pastry blender too. I really liked these because they were so simple, but a little cinnamon never hurt anybody. ;)
Your muffins do look great! Well done!
I love your muffins! Awww, so cute!
Yes, the cupcake baker's secret tool is out: the ice cream scooper. I have a mini ice cream scooper too for my mini cupcakes. ;)
Awww...your little helper is SO CUTE! Nice job on the muffins.
Hee hee - I'm with you with using the pastry blender vs our fingers! I had the same experience, too much streusel and the butter puddle left over. I 'heart' your heart muffin cup! =)
I heart your heart muffin! My topping melted a lot, too, but they were still good.
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