Marble Streusel Muffin - A Comeback

As you know, I started to enjoy baking when I joined Muffin Monday and not participating for three weeks is something I was not very happy about.  But I'm definitely back!  I could not miss making these muffins!

I love chocolate and I love cream cheese so when I saw the recipe for the week, I was ecstatic!  I have to make time to bake it. Good thing my week was kindda slow (in terms of activities) and I had time to engage in a quite challenging task - to make a marble muffin.

Ingredients are simple yet the technique is beyond me, I guess.

MARBLE STREUSEL MUFFINS 
For The Streusel:
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup flour
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tbsp butter
1/4 cup chocolate chips

For The Muffins:
2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda (I replaced this with baking powder)
1/2 tsp salt
3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
110 gms creamcheese
2 eggs
1/2 cup water (I used milk instead)
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla essence

Method 
For the Streusel:
Combine the sugar, cinnamon and flour. Add the butter and work it with your finger tips till the mixture is crumbly and stir in the chocolate.

For the Muffins:
- Preheat the oven to 350F
- Line a 12 pan muffin tin
- Combine flour, sugar, baking soda and salt in a bowl
- Remove half a cup of the flour mixture and set aside
- Add cocoa powder in the remaining mixture.
- Beat cream cheese, 1 egg and the reserved 1/2 cup of flour
- In a separate bowl combine the egg, water, vanilla essence and oil
- Add it to the cocoa mixture. Gently mix it till incorporated
- Spoon the batters side by side equally in the muffin cups
- Sprinkle the streusel and bake for 20 - 25 mins

The 'marble' was not equal.  I guess because the recipe called to take just 1/2 a cup of the flour mixture.  I actually thought, "How can I equally put the batter in the muffin trays when the batters (chocolate and cream cheese) is not equal?"  But since I still doubt myself on 'baking' techniques, I still followed the recipe and this is what happened.  I should have known...and before I forget, better to use a pastry bag when filling the muffin trays, I bet it would be easier than using a spoon.  That, tip is something I was not able to do.

Another thing, and I hope you learn from my mistake - I did not measure the butter for the streusel so it yielded to a moist rather than crumbly one.

And here is the biggest disaster of all - I used an OLD flour!  I didn't know it was old! That is another thing I need to learn, how to check my baking ingredients' usability (sad).  Could you spare me some ways how?

I know the muffin should have tasted good but that undesirable taste of an old flour was so strong that it overpowered the chocolate and precious cream cheese.  Plus, I also believed that using the old flour contributed to the texture of this should-have-been-so-good muffin.

Seeing and making these mistakes are some of the reasons why I love Muffin Monday - it teaches me things.  Not only on the techniques of baking but also the bigger picture of trusting oneself and pushing to do things that are bigger than me.

Oh well, it's okay to make mistakes while growing up, and we don't stop growing up, aren't we?  I'll just do better next time ",)

Go check out what the other bakers of Muffin Monday have done, I bet they did well!

Muffin Monday is an initiative by Baker Street. A culinary journey of sharing a wickedly 

delicious muffin recipe every week. Drop in a quick line to join her on her journey to make the 

world smile and beat glum Monday mornings week after week.