Mother's Day Muffins

It seems that I'm a little behind in my postings. But, better late then never, I suppose. This recipe is totally worth the wait. I have made these muffins before, check here, but they deserve an encore. I made them this year for my Mother's day brunch along with a sandwich platter, overnight french toast bake, noodle salad along with a few other items. My mother is always happy when someone else is doing the cooking:) 

These muffins are bursting with blueberries and I love a thick layer of crumb topping. The first batch I made I didn't think that there was enough topping so I doubled the topping ingredients the second time and that is reflected in the recipe below. If you like less topping like the pictures here then just cut the ingredients in half. Enjoy

recipe from here

Blueberry Muffins

Ingredients for muffins:

2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup canola oil
1 cup buttermilk
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup fresh blueberries, I use a whole container
2 Tablespoons flour

Ingredients for the crumb topping:

4 Tablespoons butter, cold
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a muffin tin with paper liners. I was able to make 16-17 muffins.

Begin by making the crumb topping.
In a small bowl mix the brown sugar, flour and cinnamon until well mixed. Add the butter and rub it in until the mixture resembles coarse sand.
Cover and chill until ready to use.

In a small bowl add the blueberries and 2 tablespoons of flour. Toss until the berries are evenly coated. Set aside.

In a large bowl add the flour, brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon  Whisk until the mixture is well blended. Set aside.

In a medium bowl whisk the oil, buttermilk, egg and vanilla until well mixed.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and fold them together. When most of the flour is moist add the blueberries and fold to incorporate evenly.

Scoop the batter evenly between the muffin cups. Top each with the crumb mixture. Bake for 18-22 minutes, or until the muffins are golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in the pan for about 3 minutes before turning them onto a wire rack to cool.

me and the boys

my brother, mom and me

~Michelle

New York-Style Crumb Coffee Cake

We are headed to my brother's house for my future sister-in-law's birthday brunch.  And of course I need to bring something sweet to eat.  It was a toss-up between blueberry muffins and coffee cake.  I decided on the coffee cake because my sons like that more.  So I searched the recipe archives/internet  to find just the perfect crumb coffee cake.  It needed to taste like the Entenmann's coffee cake and have lots of crumbs.

I found a wonderful recipe. 

(I am wondering what makes it "New York-Style")

The cake surely comes close to tasting like Entenmann's and is pretty easy to make too.

I was pleasantly surprised that I didn't have to double the crumb topping.  There was plenty and it was the perfect ratio of cake to topping.  Grab a cup of coffee and have some cake. XO

Off to celebrate a wonderful person's birthday. 

recipe found at smellslikehome

New York-Style Crumb Cake
original source: Cooks' Illustrated

Don't be tempted to substitute all-purpose flour for the cake flour, as doing so will make a dry, tough cake.  If you can't find buttermilk, you can substitute an equal amount of plain, low-fat yogurt.  When topping the cake, take care to not push the crumbs into the batter.  This recipe can be easily doubled and baked in a 13 x 9-inch baking dish.  If doubling, increase the baking time to about 45 minutes.  Cooled leftovers can be wrapped in plastic wrap and stored at room temperature for up to 2 days.

Ingredients for the crumb topping
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
8 Tablespoons butter (1 stick), melted and still warm
1 3/4 cups flour

Ingredients for the cake
1 1/4 cups cake flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 Tablespoons butter (3/4 stick), cut into six pieces, softened but still cool
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup buttermilk
Confectioners' sugar for dusting

To make the topping:  Whisk sugars, cinnamon, salt and butter in medium bowl to combine.  Add flour and stir with rubber spatula or wooden spoon until mixture resembles thick, cohesive dough; set aside to cool to room temperature, 10-15 minutes.

To make the cake:  Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees F.  Cut 16-inch length parchment paper or aluminum foil and fold lengthwise to 7-inch width.  Spray 9-inch square baking dish with nonstick cooking spray and fit parchment into dish, pushing it into corners and up sides; allow excess to overhang edges of dish.

In bowl of standing mixer fitted with paddle attachment, mix flour, sugar, baking soda and salt on low speed to combine.  With mixer running at low speed, add butter one piece at a time; continue beating until mixture resembles moist crumbs, with no visible butter chunks remaining, 1 to 2 minutes.  Add egg, yolk, vanilla and buttermilk; beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 1 minute, scraping once if necessary.

Transfer batter to baking pan; using rubber spatula, spread batter into even layer.  Break apart crumb topping into large pea-sized pieces between your thumb, pointer and middle fingers and spread in even layer over batter, beginning with edges and then working toward center.  Bake until crumbs are golden and wooden skewer inserted into center of cake comes out clean, 35-40 minutes. (I had to bake mine for 45 minutes)
Cool on wire rack at least 30 minutes.  Remove cake from pan by lifting parchment overhang.  Dust with confectioners' sugar just before serving.

~Michelle