Another mouthful for a title but oh so worth it. These muffins were inspired by laziness. I had already planned to bake coffee cake this weekend but decided this morning that I really didn’t want to bake a pan of coffee cake, have to cut it and store it and figure all that out. Muffins are easier to manage, I can eat two or three and Gen can’t tell how much I’ve eaten… fool proof plan. These are light and fluffy with a bit of a crunch, and a golden top that cries to be save until the end (Seinfeld knew what was up with the whole Top of the Muffin thing).

Yogurt Coffee Cake Muffins

Adapted from this lovely cookbook.

Ingredients

Crumb top

• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup firmly-packed dark brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup toasted walnuts (place on baking sheet in a 375° for 5-10 minutes, until they start to brown)
• 6 tbs unsalted butter, cold, cut into 1″  cubes

Chocolate sugar ribbon

• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
• 1 tsp cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp cardamom
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg

Cake

• 1 cup butter, softened (not melted)
• 2 1/4 cups sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 2 cups of plain yogurt
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Directions

1. Crumb top prep: Whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt. Add the toasted walnuts and, using a pastry cutter, chop the walnuts into the flour mixture until they are well incorporated and in pea-sized pieces. Add the butter, again using the pastry cutter, cut the butter into the mixture until everything is finely chopped, resembling coarse sand. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside in the refrigerator.
2. Sugar ribbon prep: In a small bowl, whisk together the sugar, cocoa powder, cinnamon, cardamom, and nutmeg and set aside.

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line or grease muffin tins. (This made 24 muffins exactly, I only have one tin so I had to put them in twice.)
2. In a large bowl, cream the butter until smooth. Scrape down the sides and add the sugar. Mix until smooth and starts to look fluffy.  Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each and scraping the sides as needed.
3. Add the yogurt and vanilla and mix until just incorporated. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the flour mixture in three parts until just incorporated. Be careful not to overmix.
   

   Swirl layer.

4. Drop one tablespoon of batter into each cup.  Cover with a tsp (or more) of the sugar ribbon mixture.
5. Drop a heaping tablespoon of batter on top of the sugar ribbon layer and smooth as best you can. Top with the crumb topping and press down into the batter. Don’t be afraid to use a lot of topping, you wan to use it all.
6. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown or a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool on a wire rack.

All the mixins ready to layer!

Ribbon of goodness.