coffee cake muffins

Saturday morning I needed muffins. Fred suggested bran muffins... no-no, no, no-no, no way Jose (see Nacho Libre).

I had a certain type of muffin in mind.... the king of all muffins.

I'm not going to lie to you - these are not for the faint hearted or calorie conscious. These are buttery, sugary bad boys. So, make at your own risk. They are addictive.

Surprisingly I didn't get this recipe from Jamie, but from the notorious Martha Stewart.

I don't know why but I found the wording of this recipe slightly confusing... it may have just been because I was on a muffin craze which rendered me unable to understand the English language. Anyway, I don't have any recommendations for this recipe - other than that I wound up with way more streusel topping then i could use. So, maybe this means it makes more than 12 muffins and you don't need to fill each muffin spot with very much batter - so there is more room for the topping. I'm not sure, see how it goes.

Tastiness: 8/10

Difficulty: 3/10

Expense: 3/10

Makes 12 muffins.

• FOR THE STREUSEL TOPPING
• 1 cup packed dark-brown sugar
• 1 cup all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• FOR THE MUFFINS
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature plus more for pans
  • 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled), plus more for pans
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 2 large eggs
  • Confectioners' sugar, optional

  • Directions

    1. Prepare streusel topping: In a medium bowl, stir together brown sugar, flour, and salt. With a pastry blender or two knives, cut in butter until mixture resembles large coarse crumbs; refrigerate until ready to use.
    2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare muffins: Butter and flour a jumbo 12-cup muffin tin (or two 6-cup muffin tins). In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and baking soda; set aside.
    3. Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat together butter, sour cream, granulated sugar, and vanilla until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until well combined. With mixer on low, beat flour mixture into butter mixture.
    4. Divide half the batter among prepared muffin cups. Top with half the streusel mixture, then remaining batter, and top with streusel. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool in pan 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Dust with confectioners' sugar, if desired.