Clarkson Family Recipe Book

Ingredients:
For the muffins:
1/2 cup pecans finely chopped
1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
10 tablespoons unsalted butter softened
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup sour cream
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup loosely packed grated carrot patted dry

For the cream cheese drizzle:
2 ounces cream cheese at room temperature
3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons milk plus more as needed
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
To make the muffins:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 12-cup muffin-tin with paper liners.

In a medium bowl, combine chopped pecans, brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Mix well and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, and salt. Cut 8 tablespoons of butter into ½ inch pieces and sprinkle evenly over flour mixture. Using a pastry blender, cut the butter into the flour mixture until butter is oat-sized. Remove 1 cup of the flour-butter mixture and stir into reserved brown sugar mixture until combined to make streusel; set aside. Add baking powder and baking soda to remaining flour mixture and stir to combine.

In a liquid measuring cup, whisk together sour cream, egg, and vanilla. Add liquids to flour mixture and stir until just combined. Add 3/4 cup of streusel mixture to flour mixture and stir until streusel is just distributed throughout batter. Melt the remaining butter and stir into remaining streusel mixture, until streusel resembles a crumble. Gently fold carrots into batter.

Divide batter among 12 muffin cups and sprinkle generously with streusel topping, crumbling with your hands to make some big chunks. Bake 22 to 24 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of muffin comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the cream cheese drizzle:
Add the cream cheese, confectioners’ sugar, 2 tablespoons milk and vanilla to a food processor. Pulse until blended together. Slowly add more milk until desired consistency is reached. Use a pastry bag to pipe the frosting onto the muffins. Serve immediately.

Recipe originally from: https://www.spoonfulofflavor.com/carrot-coffee-cake-muffins/