Cinnamon Filled Streusel Muffins

Last night I entered my recipe for Cinnamon Filled Streusel Muffins in the Hood New England Dairy Cookoff contest. Top prize is $10,000!

In 2006 I was looking through a popular baking catalog and saw they were selling a prepackaged kit to make Streusel muffins. To make these muffins you also needed to buy their signature cinnamon filling. I thought it sounded delicious and it inspired me to come up with my own recipe. My very picky husband said, "Um, these are good!" and that is saying a lot!

I decided to make a batch this morning and they were indeed so good! Here is the recipe:

Cinnamon Filled Streusel Muffins

by Valerie

Batter:

(Dry)

2 Cups King Arthur Flour

1/4 tsp salt

1 tblsp baking powder

(Wet)

1 Cup Whole Milk

1/4 Cup Safflower Oil (or Canola/Veg oil)

2 Eggs (I use farm fresh eggs)

Filling:

1/4 cup Superfine Sugar

1/4 Cup Melted butter

1 1/2 tsp Cinnamon

Streusel:

1 Tblsp flour

3 tblsp Sugar

1/4 tsp cinnamon

2 Tblsp butter

Preheat Oven to 500 degrees F, grease Silcon Muffins tins with Pam Spray or Crisco.

Batter: Mix together dry ingredients and blend well. In a 2 cup or larger measuring cup add oil, milk and eggs. Beat well. Add wet ingredients to dry Blend for 20 seconds and no more.

Filling: Melt butter (about 40 seconds in microwave), add sugar and cinnamon. Combine.

Streusel: In a bowl combine all ingredients. With a fork stir and press into butter until mixture is

crumbly. Or use a pastry knife.

Spray pans with Pam or Crisco (if you haven't already)

Use a small food scoop (icecream scoop)- scoop batter into 10 cups of the tins (1 large heaping scoop per). Add a dollop of filling, then add another scoop of batter on top. Sprinkle tops with Streusel.

As soon as muffins are in oven drop temp to 400 degrees F. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Cool for a few minutes and enjoy!

Makes about 10 muffins in silicon muffin pans.

Suggestions:

Could add walnuts or apple sauce and/or drizzle icing on top (but sweet enough without)!

Homemade Mixes & Banana Bread

We are going camping for a few weeks, and I decided to make some homemade mixes to bring with. In plastic bags I mixed up all my dry ingredients, and then labeled the bags with the name of the recipe and what I need to add on baking day. I can't wait to enjoy the fruits of my labor!

Biscuits
(Credit: The Best of Marjorie Standish: Chowders, Soups and Stews)

The Mix:
2 cups sifted flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder

On Baking Day add:
2 rounded tblsp shortening
1 cup buttermilk or milk

Chocolate Chip Scones
(Credit: 400 Calorie Meals)

The Mix:
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
3 tbsp sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup chocolate chips

On Baking Day add:
2 tbsp Butter
1/4 cup plain yogurt ( I Like to use Greek yogurt)
1 egg
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Corn Muffins
(Credit: Quaker Corn Meal)

The Mix:
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup Corn meal
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

On Baking Day add:
1 cup skim milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
**I also like to add some cream-style corn to mine!

Old-Fashioned Flannel Cakes
(PA Dutch recipe)

The Mix:
2 cups flour
2 tblsp baking powder
1 tsp salt

On Baking Day add:
2 cups milk
2 eggs
2 tblsp oil

Pancakes
(King Arthur Flour)

The Mix:
4 cups flour
2-4 tblsp sugar
1 tblsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda

On Baking Day add:
4 eggs
1 qt buttermilk, yogurt or sour milk
1/2 cup melted butter or oil

I usually divide this recipe up into four. It makes a lot!!

I also made up some banana bread tonight!! Yummy! Here is my favorite banana bread recipe:

Banana Bread
(Courtesy of Mom'n'Pop's Apple Pie 1950s Cookbook)

Makes 1 Loaf or 4 mini loaves

1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs beaten
4 bananas finely crushed
1tsp lemon juice
1 1/2 cups of flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla

Cream together butter and sugar. Mash bananas. Add lemon juice to bananas. Beat eggs. Add eggs and bananas to teh creamed butter and sugar. Combine well. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Add to creamed mixture. Add vanilla. Pour into greased** loaf pan(s). Bake at 350F for 60 minutes. Keeps well refrigerated.

** I grease my pans with Wilton Cake Release.

Homemade Goodness

Despite the humidity, I felt like baking tonight. I seem to have a knack for timing oven cooking (which throws extra heat into the house) for the very hot, humid days...wonder why that is? Anyways, I decided to make artisan bread and the chocolate chip muffins the boys have been asking me to make for the last week or so. In between recipes I decided to make some lemonade (you know to cool down from the heat!). The warmth in my kitchen was actually a good thing, both my bread and muffins rose a lot higher than normal. Also, the lemonade seemed to make my family much more appreciative than usual. I got lots of compliments, especially when everyone was stuffing their faces with the chocolate chip muffins!













I thought I would share my resources for the recipes:

Artisan Bread-I use the basic boule recipe that was in the Five-Minutes a Day for Fresh Baked Bread article that was in Mother Earth News last year or so. I just mix up my ingredients in a large bowl, lightly cover it and let it sit for about 2 hours. I flip out the dough onto a lightly floured surface, fold in my edges to the middle, pop the dough onto a pizza stone and let it rise for about 20-40 minutes (have the over preheating while it is rising). Then I cook it for about 30 minutes. You can tell if the bread is done when you flip it over and gently tap the bottom and it sounds hollow. You could also use only half the dough and refrigerate the rest for another day. We often use the dough for pizza...so good!

Chocolate Chip Muffins- Ehric discovered this amazing recipe and other really good muffin recipes while playing Holly Hobbie "Hey Girls" Muffin Maker game on NickJr.com. To get the recipe you need to complete the game. Have your kids play the game or try it out yourself!

Lemonade- I used Real Lemon's recipe from the bottle and it was really good!
for a 2 quart container: 6 1/2 cups of water, 1 cup Real Lemon (or other bottled lemon juice), and 1 cup sugar.

Enjoy!