A Christmas Reunion

Last night was our annual Baker/Woolner family Christmas reunion.  With a maiden name of Baker, it was probably pre-determined that I’d eventually blog about my desserts.  (The title of Most Talented Baker of the family, however, goes to my cousin Ruth Anne, who has won Baking Queen honours at both the Rodney and Wallacetown fall fairs.)

My mother's farm, taken from the house

My sister and I live in the Toronto area, and my cousins each live on a farm near where I grew up in southwestern Ontario.  So we really treasure the times that we’re all together.  And as so often happens, after we talked about our kids, our spouses and the weather, we got on the topic of food.

Those of you who’ve been following my blog since the beginning will remember that my first post was about my Grandma Baker’s gingersnap cookies.  No matter how many cookie recipes I try, these will probably always be my favourites.  Gwen and Judy both remembered her oatmeal cookies as being the best.  But we all remembered Grandma pulling the cookies out of the freezer when we came to visit, from the bread bags in which she stored them.

Opinion was divided on why she kept them in the freezer.  Maybe it was to keep them longer.  Maybe she preferred the taste of frozen cookies.  Carol suggested it might have been to keep them out of the sight and mind of Grandpa Baker.  Carol does the same to keep her cookies out of the sights, if not the minds, of her three tall sons.

She may be right.  When I make these muffins, I’d be best freezing them, if only to keep them out of my husband’s sight.  It’s a Dorie Greenspan recipe that was adapted by Valerie on the fabulous blog, Pixie Baker.  The only major change I made to Valerie’s version was using a cup of brewed chai tea instead of the coffee.  I’m not a coffee drinker, and I thought the gentle spice of the tea worked perfectly with the muffins.

I know my dad would have liked these muffins.  Today would have been his 79^th birthday.  Although he’s been gone for over twenty-four years, it means a lot to me that I’m still blessed with the company of his sister, my Aunt Lois, and her wonderful family.

Streusel Muffins with Maple Glaze
(from Dorie Greenspan, by way of Pixie Baker)

Streusel ingredients:

½ cup all purpose flour

½ cup packed dark brown sugar

½ tsp ground cinnamon

5 Tbsp butter (cold and cut into bits)

Muffin ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour

1/3 cup sugar

1 Tbsp baking powder

½ tsp ground cinnamon

¼ tsp kosher salt or sea salt

1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar

1 cup brewed chai tea (cooled)

½ cup (1 stick) melted butter (cooled)

1 egg

½ tsp vanilla extract

Maple glaze:

¾ cup sifted icing sugar

6 Tbsp pure maple syrup

Method

To prepare the streusel, put the flour, brown sugar and allspice in a small bowl and whisk to blend.  Add the bits of cold butter and toss to coat, then work the butter into the dry ingredients until you’ve got irregularly shaped crumbs.  Cover and refrigerate while you make the muffins.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Butter or line a regular sized muffin tin (twelve muffins) and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.  Stir in the brown sugar, making certain that there are no lumps.  In another bowl, whisk the tea, melted butter, egg and vanilla extract together.  Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients and stir the mixture just until blended.  (Do not overmix.)  Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups.

Sprinkle the streusel mixture over each muffin, gently pressing into the batter.

Bake for 16 – 20 minutes or until a knife inserted into the centre comes out clean.  Cool muffins for 5 minutes before removing from the tin.

Combine the icing sugar and maple syrup in a medium bowl.  Mix until smooth and drizzle over cooled muffins.