Fresh Peach Muffins {With A Crunchy Oatmeal Streusel}

I love muffins, they are so much fun to bake and eat. The traditional muffin method is the easiest way of whipping up a baked treat. Just combine the dry and wet ingredients in a huge bowl, mix, bake and you’re done! Muffin recipes are usually really forgiving, and they turn out so fluffy and soft all the time. No creaming and aerating the butter-sugar mixture or folding in eggs gently required here. The “lift” is achieved by adding a bit more leavening agent than you would in a cupcake or cake.

If you have one good muffin recipe, it is really easy to adapt it to use with different kinds of add-ins like fruit, nuts, etc. I used my blueberry muffin recipe and used these luscious golden peaches. They came out so fluffy and fruity, a real treat!

I made these a few times this summer at the peak of peach season, but somehow forgot to share the recipe with you guys. No hard feelings, please. There are still peaches out there. So go ahead, grab some and make these muffins.

To jazz up the muffins and add some texture, I decided to use an oatmeal and brown sugar streusel topping.

Just mix up the crumbly streusel topping in a small bowl and top the filled muffin liners before baking.

Once they baked, I couldn’t decide what I liked best about these muffins. Was it the tiny pieces of peaches in each bite or the crunchy oat topping? So good (as someone gleefully attests to here)!!

These muffins are great for a little snack when you need a boost of energy or an indulgent weekend breakfast/brunch. So,whip up a batch now, gift some to your friends and neighbors or enjoy them all by yourself. I won’t judge, I promise!

PEACH MUFFINS {WITH A CRUNCHY OATMEAL STREUSEL TOPPING}

You will need:

For the oatmeal streusel topping,

• Brown sugar – 1/3 cup
• Vegetable oil – 1/4 cup
• Rolled oats – 1/2 cup
• All purpose flour – 2 tbsp

For the peach muffins,

• All purpose flour – 1 1/2 cups
• Salt – 1/2 tsp
• Baking powder – 2 tsp
• Sugar – 3/4 cup + 1 tbsp (for sprinkling on top)
• Vegetable Oil – 1/3 cup
• Egg – 1, large
• Milk – 1/3 – 1/2 cup
• Vanilla extract – 1 tsp
• Peaches – 1 cup, finely chopped
• Oatmeal streusel topping – see above

How to:

• Make the streusel topping first because you don’t want to rest the muffin batter once you mix it up. In a  small bowl, mix the topping ingredients. Adjust by adding a little extra oats or flour if it seems too wet. Set aside.
• Pre-heat the oven to 400 deg.F and prepare a cupcake pan with liners.
• In a mixing bowl, mix the dry ingredients together with a whisk.
• In a measuring cup, add the vegetable oil and egg and whisk well. Add milk to come up to the 1 cup mark. You will need anywhere between 1/3 to 1/2 cup of milk.
• Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and whisk till just combined. Using a light hand, gently fold in the chopped peaches.
• Fill the batter in the lined pan. Top each muffin with 1-2 tsp of the prepared streusel topping. Sprinkle a tablespoon of sugar all over them.
• Bake for 20 minutes or till the muffins pass the toothpick test and their tops are golden and slightly cracked.
• Cool in pan for 5 minutes. Remove and cool completely on a wire rack. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Notes:

• Feel free to replace the peaches with other fresh stone-fruit like nectarines, apricots or plums.

I think peach muffins just might be my favorite kind of muffins now. I know, I know… I always say that after every recipe. But what shall I do? Just until I find the next killer recipe combo!

You can definitely bake the muffins without the crumb topping, but I suggest you make it with the streusel topping to add some delicious crunch and texture to the muffins. Yum!

So, tell me, what is your favorite kind of muffins? Are you a muffin person or a cupcake person? Do share.

I am sharing this over at Angie’s amazing blog link party at The Novice Gardener and Saucy Saturdays.