Streusel Coffee Cake Muffins

So... I have an awful confession to make.  I bake out of a box.  Let me explain- I don't know how to bake, and I don't want to waste the time and ingredients, when there's a chance that it won't turn out right.  But, when you use a box, it always comes out perfect, and I always have everything I need for it.

Not today.  Dan and I were having friends over (why do we always try new things when people will be there to witness it?), and I have been craving coffee cake REALLY BADLY.  And naturally, they HAD to be individual serving sizes- hence the muffinness. :)

So I went on a search for a yummy coffee cake recipe.  Obviously, I turned to pinterest.com.  If you haven't yet discovered this gem of a website, stop reading this (you won't hurt my feelings), and go request an invite.  NOW!  Okay, so I found this recipe from marthastewart.com.  You can't get much better than Martha.  So this one is at marthastewart.com/coffee-cake-muffins.  Based on the comments, I doubled the cinnamon for the streusel, and I didn't have jumbo muffin pans, so I made regular ones, and baked them for 20 minutes.  It made 15 of them.

So these are them:

  I'm a little partial, but I think mine actually look better than Martha's.  :)

Ingredients

• For The Muffins

  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 2 large eggs

• 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

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: Place cupcake liners in pan. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and baking soda; set aside.
3. Using a hand-held 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 20 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. 

I was so excited, they came out beautifully!  Very moist, very yummy, the right amount of sweet... perfect!  I think next time I'll top it off with a little more streusel, for that added crunch (I had A LOT of streusel left over).  Very good experience for a first from scratch baking attempt.  Write about them is making me want one.  I think I'll go get one.  Trust me, you want one, go make them! :)