Cinnamon Streusel Muffins

The other day I had a craving to get in the kitchen and bake. I didn't have a lot of ingredients at home, but I also didn't have the energy to go out to the store. So, out of my laziness I thought "I like cinnamon. I have muffin ingredients...lets find a no nonsense recipe!"

courtesy of "Taste of Home"

And that's how I stumbled upon this wonderful recipe from Taste of Home. Fortunately I had all of the ingredients at home to make these delicious, sugar coated treats (including vegetable shortening, which you could easily trade for vegetable oil). They were a hit with my dad and Will.

So when it came time to bring my potluck item for a closing night party, I thought of a way to make these treats a little more "dessert" like. I found the recipe for a streusel and icing topping, courtesy of Martha Stewart Recipes and added it. Here's the finished product:

note: for the purposes of this recipe, I have doubled the original recipe and made each muffin larger. Therefore, my recipe makes 18 large streusel muffins as opposed to the original 12 bite size cinnamon morsels. 

Ingredients:

2/3 cup vegetable shortening (can be substituted with butter or oil, but the almost cakey/donut-like consistency comes from the shortening).

1 cup fine granulated sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract (my addition to the recipe)

3 cups all-purpose flour

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon (the original recipe called for nutmeg, and no cinnamon in the actual dough, but where's the fun in that?)

1 cup whole milk

Streusel:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar

pinch of salt

1 tablespoon cinnamon

6 tablespoons cold butter, cut into small pieces

Glaze:

2 cups confectioner's sugar

2 tablespoons whole milk (add more, if needed)

Directions:

First make the streusel topping. Mix the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt together until well blended. Cut in the butter with a pastry blender (or use two forks), until it comes together in small clumps. Refrigerate. 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease muffin tins and set aside.

For the muffins, combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside. 

In a large mixing bowl, cream together the shortening and white sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then the vanilla. Alternately, add the flour mixture and the milk to the creamed mixture until it is well combined. Don't over mix.

Fill the muffin tins halfway (I use a medium size ice cream scoop) with the batter. Next, sprinkle approximately 2 tablespoons of streusel topping in each cup. Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let muffins completely cool on a rack.

Finally, make the glaze by mixing together the milk and confectioner's sugar. Make sure it isn't too runny. Drizzle the glaze over the muffins. Let sit for 5 minutes.

Enjoy!

Makes 18 muffins. Can be stored for up to five days in an airtight container at room temperature.

Happy Snacking,

Antonia