john's coffee cake muffins

i wish i could eat this everyday, if it weren't so full of delicious delicious butterrrr. but if you are not worried about adding inches to your *insert your choice of body part here* then this is a perfect breakfast food/snack/dinner (hey, you could eat 3 or 4.. that counts as dinner, right?). or if you are a freak of nature who likes to run 39210832190 miles a day, then you too can partake in this delightful experience without feeling guilty.

i don't know this "john" guy, but the man knows his muffins. original recipe is from marthastewart.com. her site has yet to fail me as a resource, so i would spend a few minutes browsing around if i were you. the woman is a genius. she probably makes her own jelly beans and scotch tape.

john's coffee cake muffins

makes 17 cupcake sized muffins (for me.. normal people can probably get it to make an even number)

FOR STREUSEL
1 cup packed dark-brown sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

FOR MUFFINS
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pans (i used cupcake liners which work equally well)
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled), plus more for pans
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pans
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup sour cream
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
confectioners' sugar, for dusting

prepare the streusel first. mix together all of the dry streusel ingredients and then cut in the butter using a pastry blender until it resembles coarse crumbs. if you are like me and too cheap to buy one, martha suggests using 2 butter knives. put in fridge until needed.

preheat oven to 350 degrees. mix together flour, baking powder and baking soda in a small bowl. set aside. in a medium bowl, mix together butter and sour cream. it's imperative your butter is room temperature if you don't have an electric mixture. try mixing a block of concrete with a wooden spoon and you will know what i'm talking about. add sugar and vanilla extract. add each egg, one at a time. gradually incorporate flour mixture.

here comes the annoying part. the batter does not flow like regular cupcake batter but it is still sticky. i guess in this case, not using liners would be easier. you won't have to struggle with spreading the batter out while simutaneously trying to prevent the liners from flying off the pan because your spoon, liner, and batter have joined together in a giant lovefest. use half of the batter to fill the cups. cover with half of streusel. cover again with remaining half of batter and one last time with remaining half of streusel. martha is clever in wording it this way because really, who actually sets aside half of the batter so they know when to stop? ok fine, maybe only me because i am lazy, but i just eyeball it. this is probably why i ended up with 17 muffins. bake for 25-30 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean from center. dust with sugar and enjoy!

on a side note, i used low fat sour cream. i don't like sour cream either way, so i figure it's not going to make a difference on my side. also, i used more cinnamon than the original recipe called for. like 3x more. and i would probably forgo the salt next time. i don't think it adds anything except that i can feel the individual salt crystals which is an insane idea that probably only exists in my head.