I know…many of you make fun of my very long titles. They’re my trademark, what can I say?  This weekend was a Crazy in the Kitchen weekend.  Do you have those?  Are there days you just can’t get yourself out of the kitchen no matter how hard you try or don’t try? Does your kitchen suffer with battle wounds like mine does in every nook and cranny?

That was my weekend and I am afraid I am still cleaning up from it.  These glorious muffins you see there were part of the celebration I was having with myself in my kitchen.

Have you ever said, “Oh my gosh!” when biting into a muffin?  Or done a little dance?  If not, then you must make these beautifully soft, delicate and fluffy cinnamon and allspice muffins.  They have a slightly crunchy crumb topping and a punch of cinnamon and brown sugar swirled in.

I haven’t been in the mood to bake lately.  I have been in a general slump if I must tell you the truth, but this weekend magically marked the end to my baking, cooking and emotional slump and I am happy to be on the other side.

First, Saturday morning, there were these super easy, absolutely delicious sausage and cheese magic biscuits that I got from Try It You Might Like It months ago.  My family tried it, became addicted to it and now it’s a part of a monthly weekend ritual.

Then Saturday afternoon was spent trying to make my own fried herb potato chips from Tyler Florence to go alongside a hefty egg salad sandwich on egg bread.   They were earthy, herby and delicious, but way more time consuming than I bargained for.

After destroying my kitchen twice on Saturday, you think I would have been done with that business but no, Easter was the next day and we had a list of things we “needed” to make.

We added these Cinnamon Allspice muffins for our family Easter breakfast, served with scrambled eggs and bacon, some pretty deviled eggs to bring to a party and finally, the piece de resistance, Dorie’s Peanut Butter Blondies that were oooh’d and aaah’d at when bitten into, despite being among a plethora of gorgeous desserts.

I mean really…nothing in the world beats those blondies….except…maybe these, “Oh My Gosh” muffins.

They’re pretty fantastic.  I’m so humble, I know.  BTW—they started as a Dorie Greenspan muffin, but I definitely fluffed them up a bit and swirled them with cinnamon just because.

Cinnamon Swirl Allspice Crumb Muffins
Adapted from Dorie Greenspan’s Baking From My Home to Yours

For the Crumb Topping
1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 c. packed light brown sugar
1/4 t. ground cinnamon
1/4 t. ground allspice
5 T. cold unsalted butter, cut into bits

For the Cinnamon Swirl
2 T. light brown sugar
2 t. cinnamon
1 T granulated sugar

For the Muffins
2 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/2 t. ground allspice
1/4 t. salt
1/4 c. packed light brown sugar
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 large eggs
3/4 c. whole milk
*1/4 c. Canola oil (my addition–made them super moist and fluffy)
1/4 t. pure vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.  Line a muffin tin with muffin liners.

To make the crumb topping: Put the flour, brown sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl and whisk together.  Add the bits of cold butter and work the butter in with your hands, crumbling the butter and mixture as you work.  Once you have small, pea sized crumbles (or a bit smaller), you can stop and set aside.

For the cinnamon swirl: In a small bowl, stir together the brown sugar, cinnamon and sugar and mix with a spoon to evenly disperse ingredients.  I like to crumble it with my fingers so there are no brown sugar lumps.

For the muffins: In a microwave safe bowl or liquid measuring cup, melt the butter in the microwave for about 30 seconds or until melted.  Let cool completely.  In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour through the salt.  Stir in the brown sugar, making sure there are no lumps.  Once the butter has cooled, in a small mixing bowl, whisk together the butter, milk, eggs, oil and vanilla until well combined.  Make a well shape in your dry ingredients and pour the liquid mixture into the well.  Stir together until just combine.  Don’t over mix.

Scoop about 1/3 of a muffin liner of batter into each muffin cup.  Sprinkle cinnamon swirl mixture in a line over the batter.  See photo above.  Then with a butter knife, make an “s” in the batter, dragging the cinnamon back and forth through the batter to form a swirl.

Top the muffin with a big spoonful of the batter so that the muffin liner is 2/3 full.   Using your hands drop about one tablespoon or more of the crumb mixture on top of each muffin.  Bake for about 20 minutes or until the tops are golden and if you press lightly on top it will be slightly firm.  Cool for 5 minutes before serving.