The sign of a productive morning

...a messy kitchen.

This morning I made my favorite fall breakfast: Pumpkin Apple Streusel Muffins. There are a lot of recipes out there for pumpkin muffins and pumpkin bread, etc., but these are my favorite. It is a pretty easy recipe, but it makes a mess of my kitchen a lot of dirty dishes. However, the payoff is a scrumptiously autumnal breakfast. Paired with a cup of tea courtesy of the earl of Grey, this spells comfort. Ahh, the crisp morning breeze, the smell of fall, and pumpkin muffins warm out of the oven - it doesn't get much better than this!

Pumpkin Apple Streusel Muffins

2 1/2 c. all-purpose flour

2 c. white sugar

1/4 Tbsp each of allspice, ground ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg

1 tsp. baking soda

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 c. canned pumpkin

1/2 c. vegetable oil

2 c. peeled, corred, and chopped apple

2 tbsp. all-purpose flour

1/4 c. white sugar

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

4 tbsp. butter

• Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease a muffin pan or line with 24 muffin papers.
• In a large bowl, sife together 2 1/2 c. flour, 2 cups sugar, spices, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, mix together eggs, pumpkin, and oil. Add pumpkin mixture to flour mixture, stirring just to moisten. Fold in apples. Spoom the batter into prepared muffin cups.
• In a small bowl, mix together 2 tbsp flour, 1/4 cup sugar, and cinnamon. Cut in butter with a fork until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle topping evenly over muffin batter.
• Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
• Makes about 24 muffins.

I actually made 12 big muffins and used the rest of the batter for mini-muffins, which were ready in about 15 minutes. They're a big hit with the toddler set.