Five-spice muffins

AKA Raid-the-pantry muffins

When we decided on Friday night to go to The House on the Rock the next morning, I knew I wanted to make a smackerel of something for the two-hour road trip. I also knew I was way too lazy to run to the grocery store to buy things like pumpkin, applesauce, dried fruit, or nuts. So I made five-spice muffins with only what I had on hand. 

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FIVE-SPICE MUFFINS

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:
MUFFINS
2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cloves
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp ginger
1 cup buttermilk (See "DIY buttermilk," below)
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup dried fruit and/or nuts (optional)

CRUMBLE TOPPING
2/3 cups packed brown sugar
4 TBS flour
1/4 tsp cinnamon
2 TBS butter

WHAT YOU'LL DO:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease a muffin pan (this recipe will make about 18 muffins). Melt the butter.

2. Combine dry ingredients (you can adjust the spices to taste). Stir in buttermilk, egg, melted butter, and vanilla, mixing until just combined. If using, stir in dried fruit and/or nuts.

*DIY buttermilk: If you don't have buttermilk on hand, start by placing 1 TBS white vinegar or lemon juice into a 1 cup measuring cup. Then pour milk up to the 1 cup mark.

3. For the crumble topping: In a small bowl, combine brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon. Cut in butter until the mixture resembles course corn meal.

4. Spoon batter into prepared muffin pan, filling each cup about 3/4 of the way, and sprinkle each cup with crumble topping. Bake at 400 degrees for 18-20 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. After 15-20 minutes, place muffins on cooling rack.

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Next time I make these muffins, I will hopefully find walnuts or pecans in the pantry. I also might try them with half white sugar and half brown sugar, just to see how that affects the taste the texture. But whatever the sugar, you gotta love a recipe where you don't even have to leave the house to make the magic happen. 

Day trips & muffins — who could ask for anything more?