Recipe: Berry-and-Spice Whole-Wheat Muffins

My unofficial taste testers agree the streusel topping on these Southern Living muffins makes their just-sweet-enough, grainy taste decadent. The buttermilk makes the bread moist and light, and the spices make for a slightly more complex flavor than your ordinary blueberry muffin. I've so much fallen in love with this recipe that the box muffins with streusel topping I used to really like just don't taste that great anymore. It's now my go-to muffin recipe, unless I want a more indulgent, bakery-like muffin, in which case I opt for Blueberry Cheesecake Muffins.

Berry-and-Spice Whole-Wheat Muffins

1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons chopped pecans
1 tablespoon butter, melted
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole-wheat flour
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1 egg
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Combine brown sugar, 1 tablespoon flour, and pecans in a small bowl. Stir in melted butter; set aside.

Combine 1 cup all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, and next 5 ingredients in a large bowl; make a well in center of mixture.

Stir together egg, buttermilk, and oil; add to dry ingredients, stirring just until moistened. Fold in blueberries.

Spoon about 1/3 cup batter into each of 12 lightly greased muffin cups. Sprinkle batter evenly with reserved pecan mixture.

Bake at 375° for 19 to 21 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool in pans on wire rack 5 minutes. Remove from pans, and cool slightly on wire rack. Serve warm.