Lemon Earl Grey Streusel Muffins |Cooking With Amanda

Try as I might, I am not a tea drinker. I know it has health benefits, I know it's pretty delicious; I know it's a lot of things. But if I'm drinking a hot beverage, it's going to be coffee every single time. Beyond that, I just drink lots of water throughout the day, and maybe a glass of wine or a cocktail in the evening. Tea just doesn't come into the picture for me, and that's OK. I've accepted it.

Lemon Earl Grey Streusel Muffins Picture

Somehow, I still have quite a bit of tea on hand, most of it given to me as gifts from tea-lovers. Since I hate to throw away food (or drink), I'm always looking for other ways to use this tea. I've made milky tea ice cream to enjoy on a hot summer day, and tea-smoked duck fettuccine, which is a flavorful and decadent dish for a cold night.

Now that I've had some successful recipes in both the savory and (frozen) sweet worlds, I figured it was time to try my hand at a baked good involving tea. And because I'm a certified lemon fanatic, of course I worked some lemon goodness in here as well. Who's surprised?

The key to these lemon Earl Gray streusel muffins is making sure you have the appropriate tea. I used Earl Gray, but I think any black tea would work. The most important thing is that you use fresh tea. If you have some dusty old tea bags in the back of your cabinet, now is NOT the time to use those. You want fresh tea that is sure to infuse a lot of flavor in the muffin batter. Make sure your lemon is nice and fresh, too!

It's also important that you use tea that is fairly finely ground. I used the tea from a Tazo Earl Gray tea bag, which was a good consistency for this project. A loose leaf tea with larger bits and pieces wouldn't work as well here. Who wants to be eating a muffin and chew into a piece of tea bark or something? I just made up "tea bark." I have no idea if that is a real term or not. I'm doubting it.

Whip up this muffin batter with your fresh lemon zest and tea. Top the muffins with a simple brown sugar streusel mixture and bake them until your whole house smells like coffee cake. To finish, drizzle them with a lemon juice-infused glaze. Enjoy these lemon Earl Gray streusel muffins for breakfast, dessert or a snack!

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Lemon Earl Grey Streusel Muffins Recipe

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Ingredients

For the Streusel Topping:

1 cup all-purpose flour, plus 2 tablespoons
1/4 cup dark brown sugar, plus 2 tablespoons
1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

For the Muffins:

1 bag earl grey tea, tea removed
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons lemon zest, from about 1 medium lemon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups sour cream

For the Glaze:

3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons milk, plus additional if needed

Directions

To Make the Streusel Topping:

In medium bowl, whisk together flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt.
Using a pastry blender or 2 butter knives, cut in butter until combined but still crumbly.
Cover and refrigerate at least 30 minutes or up to 5 days before using.

To Make the Muffins:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line muffin pan with paper liners. In small bowl, whisk together tea, flour, lemon zest, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
In mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar at medium-high speed 3 minutes or until light and fluffy. Add egg and beat until well combined, scraping down side of bowl as needed. Add vanilla; mix at low speed until incorporated. Add sour cream and flour mixture all at once; mix at low speed until just combined.
Divide batter evenly among prepared muffin cups. Divide half of streusel over batter; use back of spoon to gently press streusel into batter. Evenly sprinkle remaining streusel over muffins. Transfer to oven and bake 22 to 24 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of muffin comes out clean. Transfer pan to wire rack to cool.

To Serve, Make the Glaze:

In small bowl, whisk together powdered sugar, lemon juice and milk.
If needed, add additional milk one teaspoon at a time until you have a very thick but pourable glaze.
Place muffins on wire rack set over rimmed baking pan; drizzle evenly with glaze.