Allspice Muffins: Simple in the morning

I don't want to admit this to myself, but the winter months have made me lazy in the morning.  In recent days, watching the Olympics late into the evening doesn't help much either, but I have not been good at preparing hot meals for Daughters before they go to school.  Last night after I tucked everyone into bed, I realized that waking up in the morning isn't always easy for them either and so I decided to prep some muffins for them.

I looked through Dorie Greenspans' book, Baking: From My Home to Yours and decided on the Allspice Muffins for their ease of preparation.  There is nothing to mash, nothing extra to mix in - it's just a straight muffin with the uniqueness of allspice.  Hers does require a streusal, but as I am not a fan of extra butter and sugar on a muffin, I opted simply to sprinkle some raw sugar on top for some extra crunch and sweetness.  The muffins are lovely, warm from the oven, and delicious in their mild spiciness.

The night before I mixed all the dry ingredients together, set aside butter and eggs, put my measuring cup on the table and woke up early the next day to make them.  For my wet ingredients, I measured my milk in a large capacity measuring cup, beat eggs directly into that cup, and added the melted butter.  It was simple to mix in and very quickly I had delicious muffins.

I chose to make 24 mini muffins, but these would make 12 regular sized muffins as well.

Allspice Muffins (adapted from Dorie Greensspan's Baking: From My Home to Yours)
Makes 12 regular sized muffins, or 24 mini muffins

2 cups of all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon ground allspice (which tastes like a mixture of cinnamon, nutmeg. clove and even pepper...substitute cinnamon if you like)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup (packed) light brown sugar
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted
2 large eggs
3/4 cup whole milk
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/4 cup raw sugar for sprinkling on top

Place oven rack in center of oven and preheat oven 375 degrees. Butter or spray muffin pan or use paper liners.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, allspice and salt.  Stir in brown sugar, making certain there are no lumps.

In a large glass measuring cup or another bowl, whisk melted butter, eggs milk and vanilla extract together until well combined.  Pour liquid ingredients over dry ingredients and with whisk or rubber spatula, gently and quickly stir to blend.  Batter will be lumpy.


Divide batter equally among muffin cups.  Sprinkle a bit of raw sugar on top of batter.  Bake for about 20 minutes (16 minutes for mini muffins, or until a knife inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool for 5 minutes before removing from mold. 


Printable recipe

sparkles from the raw sugar on top

My go to measuring cup for mixing up wet ingredients


The book that both inspires and intimidates me