An Allspice Variation On Whole Grain Sour Cream Muffins

Wow did I really post every weekday last week? Apparently I had a lot of energy. Energy which is sorely lacking this week. We have a house guest coming in plus this is the weekend I am making John his big SE Asian feast (shhh... don't tell him--he never reads this--but the main dish will be Cambodian, not Thai, this time around). I hosted playgroup on Monday and made John his bday dessert (it involves layers of mousse!), hosted a playdate on Tuesday, went to the out of town grocery store for my monthly visit today, tomorrow I will pick the houseguest up at the airport (an hour away) and Friday the feast.

*YAWN*

So bear with me if my posts are a little more spaced the next few days.

Do you guys remember (ok probably not, I think I had 2 readers back then) these Allspice Crumb Muffins from waaaay back when? Well I was making muffins for playgroup, I had decided to make King Arthur's Whole Grain Sour Cream Muffins, and I decided to see if the recipe would adapt to the Allspice Crumb Muffins... well the truth is they are not nearly as pretty as the originals, the streusel flattened and sunk a bit (I think maybe it was my fault as I don't think I got the streusel crumbly enough) but they were nearly as tasty, and my point in sharing them is to share the fabulous base muffin recipe from King Arthur.

This is a great muffin recipe for a few reasons: it adapts well to most basic muffin flavorings, it gets better as it sits (that's the whole grain influence I think), and you can make the batter the night before and then scoop and bake the muffins for up to 4 days. That means you don't have to feel compelled to make all 12 muffins for just the 2, 3, 4, etc of you at once.

Check out the Allspice Crumb Muffin link above for the streusal recipe.


Whole Grain Sour Cream Muffins
Adapted from King Arthur Whole Grain Baking
(Allspice variation additions in bold)

Lightly grease a muffin tin, or line with papers and coat the papers with nonstick spray. Whisk together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, allspice, and salt in a medium bowl. Cream together the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy and almost white in color. Scrape down the bowl to make sure all the butter is incorporated, then turn the mixer back on and add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the vanilla and sour cream, and mix until incorporated. Add the dry ingredients, mixing on low speed just until the batter is smooth. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl once more, to be sure everything is evenly combined. Gently fold in the fruit and refrigerate at least an hour or overnight or even up to 4 days.

Preheat the oven to 400 F. Scoop the batter by the 1/4-cupful into the prepared pan and sprinkle with sugar or other topping. Bake the muffins until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 22 to 26 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow the muffins to cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then turn them out onto a rack to finish cooling.