CRUMB TOPPED CHOCOLATE CINNAMON SWIRL MUFFINS

Recently, Elyse, of Elyse's Confectionary Creations, posted a
delicious-looking coffee cake that she adapted from Baked. I wanted to try it, but coffee cakes are too big for a family of two where one person doesn't eat desserts. So I adapted the recipe for muffins.

My first adaptation including reducing the fat content by subbing banana for part of the fat. The muffins were good, but not great. I decided to try again. This time, I subbed applesauce for part of the fat and used fat-free yogurt for part of the sour cream, with a little cream added.

I also added "coffee essence," a flavoring I use a lot of. It's coffee brandy with instant coffee granules added. I store it in the fridge in a little jar. And, since I won a bag of Ultragrain flour recently, I decided to try it. (Ultragrain flour is 30% whole wheat and bakes up just like all-purpose flour.) These muffins were the bomb! Not only is the flavor divine, the texture of these muffins is tender and soft and the crumb topping is nicely clumped for a soft crunch. There's plenty of chocolate in these babies, too. I highly recommend these muffins. Thanks, Elyse, for a great recipe.


Crumb-Topped Chocolate Cinnamon Swirl Muffins
Adapted from Elyse's Confectionary Creations and Baked
Rating: 10 out of 10
INGREDIENTS: TOPPING:
1/4 cup Ultragrain flour (or all-purpose, if preferred)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp. sea salt
1/3 cup pecans
1/3 cup chocolate chips
3 Tbsp. butter

Combine flour, sugar, and salt in food processor and pulse till mixed. Add pecans and chocolate chips. Pulse till fully ground. Add butter and pulse until combined. Refrigerate.

CHOCOLATE-CINNAMON SWIRL: 1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. Hershey's Special Dark cocoa (or natural unsweetened, if preferred)
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Combine all ingredients in small bowl; set aside.

MUFFINS:
1-3/4 cup Ultragrain or all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. sea salt
1/4 cup (1/2 stick)butter, melted and partially cooled
1-1/8 cups sugar
1 large egg
6 oz. fat-free vanilla yogurt + 2 oz. heavy cream OR 8 oz. fat-free vanilla yogurt
3/4 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. coffee essence*
1/2 cup applesauce

Preheat oven to 400F. Spray a 12-cup muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray; set aside. In medium bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. In small bowl, whisk butter and sugar together; add egg, yogurt, cream, vanilla, coffee essence and applesauce and whisk till well combined and smooth. Pour over dry ingredients and stir with spoon or spatula till barely combined. Place a rounded Tbsp. in each muffin cup. Divide chocolate cinnamon swirl ingredients evenly among cups, using about 2 tsp. for each. Top with remaining muffin batter. Divide crumb topping among muffins, pressing in slightly. Place in oven and immediately reduce heat to 325F. Bake 18-20 minutes, or till a toothpick inserted in muffin returns with just a few crumbs. If you hit chocolate, reinsert toothpick carefully and don't go all the way down -- remember there's a pocket of melting chocolate down there. Cool muffins in pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack to finish cooling.

*Coffee essence: In small container, place 1/4 cup coffee brandy or creme de cocoa. Add 4 Tbsp. instant coffee. Seal; shake; refrigerate till needed.