Lawsuit Buttermilk Muffins

An Australian recipe I found for ZWT5 at http://www.insanitytheory.net/. I love the title and their photo is gorgeous! The recipe does not specify the exact fruit for the bottom part of the muffin. The oven temperature equivalents for 200 C converts to 400 degrees F which seems high to me. The NF will not include the two topping choices because of the way I posted the streusel aspect inside the directions-just could not figure out how to get the captions for them in.

• Ready In: 45 mins
• Serves: 12

Ingredients

• 2 1⁄2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1  pinch salt
• 2 1⁄2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1⁄2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 1⁄2 cup  vegetable oil
• 3⁄4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
• 1 1⁄2 tablespoons  citrus zest or 2  teaspoons lemon juice
• 1  egg, lightly beaten
• 2  teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1  cup buttermilk
• 1 3⁄4-2  cups  fruit (if using large fruits you may want to coarsely chop them)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees C ^ or 400 degrees F and line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners.
2. Mix together flour, salt, baking powder and bicarb soda in a bowl then set aside.
3. In another bowl, combine the oil, brown sugar, citrus zest/lemon juice and egg; stir in the vanilla extract and buttermilk.
4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix till combined but do NOT overmix.
5. Gently add the fruit and mix.
6. Leave to sit for about 5 minutes and check the batter consistency - if it is still quite watery then add a little more flour as the batter should be quite stiff and hold it’s shape. And if you used lemon juice instead of zest it will have more liquid.
7. Spoon the batter into the muffin cups and fill pretty much to the top. Don’t do anything silly like smooth the tops over as muffins look tastier when their tops are messily puffed!
8. Sprinkle whichever streusel topping (see Step 13 OR Step 14) you’re using evenly on top of each muffin and make sure they are well covered as when they cook they expand a lot and suddenly there isn’t as much streusel as you thought there was!
9. Bake for 15 minutes, then lower temperature to 160 degrees C^ and bake for another 10 minutes. (When the muffins are done they will spring back when lightly touched.).
10. Let the muffins cool in the tray for 10 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.
11. Enjoy! (especially if you have a nice cup of tea or hot chocolate!).
12. You can use either of these streusel toppings, the walnut one is the original for this recipe, but if you find yourself without any walnuts, you might give the other one a try :).
13. For the Nut Streusel Topping: Combine1 tablespoon unsalted butter, chilled, 1/3 cup brown sugar (firmly packed), 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 cup walnuts, finely chopped, (you may sub pecans) in a bowl till you have a crumbly mixture. Set aside if using immediately, or store in the fridge till you want to use it.
14. OR for the Butter Streusel Topping: Combine 60g caster sugar, 90g all-purpose flour, 1/2 scant teaspoon of baking powder, 1/4 scant teaspoon of bicarb soda, 80g chilled butter, cut into cubes--mixing with your fingertips till it resembles coarse breadcrumbs and has a sandy texture. Use a fork to combine 1 tablespoon demerara sugar (coffee sugar will suffice if you don't have any demerara) with the dough, then set aside or store in the fridge till you need it if not using immediately.