Mmm mmm mmm Muffins, Cinnamon Streusel Crumb Cake Muffin

** This post was imported as a part of my top 30 from my old blog – What’s Cooking in the Orange Kitchen**

So in case you didn’t know, I am going back to school! I started nursing school at the end of January and so far I am loving it. I am still working part time and teaching dance so between those things and studying and class I don’t have a lot of time to think. So I decided 2 weeks ago to make muffins on Sunday so that I would have breakfast every morning with out thinking or needing to wake up any earlier than necessary to actually make a breakfast. The muffins were fantastic! It was so nice having a yummy homemade breakfast every morning that I decided to do it again this past Sunday. The first week I made blueberry muffins. Then last week I decided to make a crumb cake type of muffin. I used the same base recipe for both but for the crumb cake one I doubled the streusel topping and put some in the middle of the muffin. This weekend I think I might try raspberry muffins (gasp! a cooked fruit that’s not a blueberry, LOL. Muffins do NOT count towards my no cooked fruit rule)

I’m going to post the original recipe I used for the blueberry muffins and in Italics I will put the directions for the crumb cake muffins that are pictures. Sorry I ate all of the blueberry ones before I had a chance to take a picture.

Cinnamon Streusel Crumb Cake Muffin

Streusel Topping Ingredients

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, slightly softened and cut into 1/2-inch pieces Double for crumb cake muffins

Muffin Ingredients

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
8 ounces sour cream
1/4 cup milk
3 cups (1 1/2 pints) fresh blueberries, stems removed (Omit for crumb cake muffins)

Makes 24 muffins

Directions
For the topping, in a medium bowl, stir together the flour, cinnamon, and brown sugar. Add the butter pieces and combine the mixture with a fork until the topping resembles coarse crumbs. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Place paper liners in muffin pans. In a separate medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

With an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. At low speed, beat one egg in at a time, then add vanilla. Next add 1/3 of the dry ingredients then half of the sour cream and milk . Repeat until all of the dry ingredients have been added. With a spatula, evenly fold blueberries into batter (Obviously skip this step for crumb cake muffins).
Scoop batter into muffin pans and fill each cup to the top. Sprinkle topping evenly over batter. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until a cake tester or wooden skewer comes out clean.

Scoop half of batter into muffin pans (filling each pan only half way). Then sprinkle half of the streusel over batter. Top the first layer of streusel with another scoop of batter (filling each one to the top now). Sprinkle the rest of the streusel over the tops of each muffin. Bake for 30-35 minutes.