Cardamom Crumb Muffins

I heart cardamom – in tea, traditional desserts, or even on it’s own. It occurred to me the other day that I don’t actually bake anything in which cardamom is the main ingredient. I add some to my baked oatmeal, but there it is part of an ensemble and does not shine alone. When I saw Dorie Greenspan’s recipe for Allspice Crumb Muffins I decided to adapt it slightly to fit the bill. My cardamom loving self may increase the cardamom next time, but my taste testers liked it as is.

Cardamom Crumb Muffins
1 dozen

Streusel:
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup light brown sugar (packed)
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
5 tbsp cold unsalted butter

Muffins:
2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup light brown sugar (packed)
1 stick (8 tbsp) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 large eggs
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract (I used maple, was out of vanilla!)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a muffin pan with paper liners or grease it.

To make the streusel: Dice the butter into small pieces. Add it to the bowl with the other ingredients and mix it in to get ‘crumbs’.

Haphazard shapes and mini assistants welcome. Refrigerate the streusel. You can make this ahead of time, it keeps for 3 days.

To make the muffins: Whisk together the dry ingredients in one bowl and the wet ingredients in another.Then add the wet ingredients to the dry, stir to blend.

Don’t overdo it unless tough muffins have some sort of appeal for you 🙂 Just stir till combined, some lumps are perfectly fine.

Divvy up the batter between the muffin cups, sprinkle streusel over each muffin. I somehow can never use up the entire amount of streusel, yes, I just admitted to not being able to cram in maximum sugar/butter despite my best efforts. Gently press the streusel in and bake for 16-20 minutes until the tops are nice and golden.

They are very nice warm, but far lovelier if you wait a little and let them come to room temperature. I would know, I had several at each stage!