Coffee Cake Muffins

Post and images by guest blogger, Rebecca White, of A Pleasant Little Kitchen. 

Visit her full blog or find out more about her here. 

My children get a lot more excited when I'm baking then when I'm cooking.

Even in their young years they know baking = treats, while cooking = dinner.

When I cook, I don't get as many assistants. When I bake, both little bodies want to help. I like my kitchen buzzing with conversation and activity-- it's what makes the space pleasant.

Christmas. It brings out the sentimental, ritual and tradition seeking part of my inner being. I want the days to be filled with expectation and a sense of coming joy.

As a young family, we already have a few holiday rituals in place-- however there is still a slot to fill in the kitchen tradition department. We are missing the "baking together" holiday tradition.

This fall I started to brainstorm what exactly this goodie could be. It needed to have cinnamon, cloves and brown sugar. Cleanup needed to be fairly easy. Most importantly, the kids needed to be a part of the process.

I landed on a baked good that could not only could be eaten for breakfast, but could also be considered a treat (did I mention freezer friendly too?). It's my intention that it will become a recipe my children anticipate yearly, and hopefully pass on to their little assistants.

Coffee Cake Muffins.

Fluffy, buttery, cinnamon-y, the kind of baked goods that make people smile and not secretly wish they never received it (you know what I'm talking about).

Luckily, I had almost everything needed to bake in my pantry from weekly (okay, bi-weekly...it's just so much fun!) trips to Market Street.

Pasture raised eggs. Normally I go for Vital Farms, but have noticed another brand of these beautiful eggs available, Handsome Brook Farm.

Unsalted butter. There is always a nice selection of butter. Challenge Butter is appealing because it is not treated with rBST and the price point is attractive.

And the other pantry basics of sour cream, sugar, flour and spices.

The only thing missing was cupcake liners.

After school I took the little ones to the bakery aisle at Market Street and had them pick out the liners they felt were the most “Christmas-y.” I had to agree to pink and blue, even though I begged for red.

We were now ready for the test kitchen.

Coincidently, a recipe test for the coffee cake muffins occurred the night we were decorating the Christmas tree. The house was a buzz.

Football was playing and Randy was retrieving Christmas treasures from the attic. Katherine and Eli couldn't decide what was more entertaining-- going through boxes of Christmas decorations or helping with the muffins. They kept ping ponging their way between the kitchen and living room.

It didn't matter. The fact that both activities got them excited and they were participating in both was all I needed.

This is how traditions start. Serendipitous moments you want to repeat.

The muffins came out of the oven. My audience cheered.

I smiled.

To keep little paws from their dessert, we hopped into the car for Tex-Mex. Once back home we put on Christmas pajamas, decorated the tree and nibbled on coffee cake muffins.

I can't wait to do it all over again, next year. And the next.

And the next.

Coffee Cake Muffins

Author note: My daughter suggested adding icing to this muffin. I agree with her. These muffins are freezer friendly.

for the batter

Ingredients

1 1/2 sticks room temperature unsalted butter

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

3 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 cup sour cream

brown cinnamon streusel (recipe below)

Instructions

1) Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

2) In a bowl, sift the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and baking powder. Add the salt.

3) With a stand mixer (or an electric mixer) cream the butter and sugar for 3 minutes.

4) Add the eggs one at a time while continuing to mix.

5) Slowly mix in the flour mixture in small batches to the creamed butter and eggs.

6) Once the flour is well incorporated add the vanilla extract and sour cream.

7) Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners. Place a small scoop in each liner and then add a sprinkle of streusel.

8) Add another small dollop of batter on top of the streusel. Top again with streusel. Continue this process until batter is gone. Be sure not to fill the cupcake liners full of batter. Aim to fill them a little less then 3/4 full.

9) Place in oven and bake for 15-17 minutes, or until the muffins are cooked through.

10) Let cool and serve.

for the streusel

Ingredients

1/2 stick unsalted butter (cold), cubed

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Instructions

1) In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients for the streusel. Mix well by hand. Place in the fridge until ready to use.