Tuesdays with Dorie: Allspice Crumb Muffins

Last week's pudding was a nice change but for this week I was happy to get back into baking. Kayte of Grandma's Kitchen Table chose Allspice Crumb Muffins, yet another recipe I really liked the look of. (Wondering what will be left for my pick in oh, 50 weeks time!)

I much prefer muffins to cupcakes because you can whip them up in a matter of minutes and they don't need any accompaniments, other than maybe a smear of butter when they are still warm from the oven.

These muffins with their crunchy streusel topping didn't need anything else at all. Dorie said they taste better the next day but I loved them fresh. The next day they had dried out a little bit.

I made half the recipe and got 16 mini muffins.


The taste test ...

Allspice is so underrated. Every time I use I wonder why I don't use it more often! Same with star anise. These tasted like Christmas to me, warm, buttery and lightly spiced. I'm sure I'll be making these again.

Thanks for a great pick Kayte! You can find the recipe on her blog.

Tuesdays with Dorie: Savoury Corn & Pepper Muffins

Much as I loved last week's pick I was very happy with something simple and savoury this week!

I am not a huge fan of chilli, preferring warmth to heat in terms of spiciness so I did make a few changes to the recipe. I also jumped on the bandwagon and served these with Beef and Bean Chili. They were the perfect accompaniment.


The taste test ...

Fresh out of the oven when it was almost too hot to handle and smeared with butter ... yum! My one issue would be that I think there was too much baking powder. Or too much combined with the baking soda? Once they cooled down I could really taste it and the crumb was very hard despite not over-mixing.

I'm glad I left out the jalopenos and most of the chilli - I only used 1/2 ts of mexican chilli powder and that was perfect to give a hint of warmth which contrasted beautifully with the more spicy Chili.

Overall a thumbs up! Thanks to Rebecca of Ezra Pound Cake for this week's pick.