Clinton St. Baking Company: Cherry Crumb Muffins

What do you do when your freezer is bursting at the seams?  You start grabbing things out of it and finding recipes.  Which is exactly how I decided to make these muffins.  Now, I know they're not super pretty.  For the life of me, I cannot get a crumb topping to look pretty once it has run through the oven.  Someday I'll learn.  And the frozen cherry on top of each sure made its own little mess.  But these muffins are absolutely delicious and make a fantastic breakfast.  In addition to helping clear some freezer space for new culinary adventures.

Cherry Crumb Muffins
From Clinton St. Baking Company Cookbook by DeDe Lahman and Neil Kleinberg

¼ cup (½ stick) unsalted butter, softened
½ cup granulated sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1 large egg
½ cup sour cream
1 cup frozen or fresh sour pitted cherries
10 tablespoons Crumb Mix

Preheat the oven to 350°F.  Lightly grease muffin tins or use paper muffin cups.

In an electric mixer on medium-high speed, with the paddle attachment cream together the butter, sugar, and vanilla.

Sift the remaining dry ingredients together into a bowl.

Add the egg to the butter mixture and blend until combined.  Add ¼ cup of the sour cream to the butter mixture, then half of the dry ingredients, mixing and repeating with the remaining sour cream and then the remaining dry ingredients until the batter is combined.  Be sure to end with the dry ingredients.

Reserve 8 cherries and fold in the remaining cherries until evenly mixed.  Spoon the batter into the muffin tins, leaving room on the top for the Crumb Mix.  Top each muffin with 1 tablespoon of the Crumb Mix and 1 cherry.  Bake for 25 to 35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle of a muffin comes out clean.

Cool for at least 10 minutes for best release of the muffins from their tins (if not using paper liners).

Makes 10 muffins

Crumb Mix
½ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup granulated sugar
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ cup (½ stick) unsalted butter, cubed

Mix the dry ingredients with the butter by hand until the mixture is pea-sized.  Keep the Crumb Mix in a cool place until you are ready to use it.  The mix can be stored in the fridge for a couple of weeks.

Makes 1½ cups, enough for 2 to 3 batches of muffins