Yes, I have some buttermilk that I want to use up before it goes bad. This recipe didn't look bad--and it was easy.

Buttermilk Crumb Muffins
From Baking with Julia

• 2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2 cups (packed) light brown sugar
• 2/3 cup solid vegetable shortening
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon gated nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 2 large eggs, well beaten

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Spray or grease two 12-cup muffin tins.
• Put the flour and brown sugar into a large bowl and stir with your fingers or a fork to mix well.
• Break the shortening into a few pieces, drop them into the flour mixture, and, using your finger tips, lightly rub the shortening and flour together until the mixture looks like coarse bread crumbs.
• Measure out 1/2 cup of the mixture and set it aside to use later as the crumb topping.
• Add the baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt to the flour mixture and stir with a fork to mix well.
• Add the buttermilk and beaten eggs and, using a large spoon, mix until the ingredients are well blended and the batter is thick and shiny.
• Spoon the batter into the muffin tins, filling each cup at least 2/3 full.
• Sprinkle the top of each muffin with a rounded teaspoon of the reserved crumb mixture and pat it gently onto the batter.
• Half-fill any empty muffin cups with water--this will help the muffins bake evenly.
• Bake for 25 - 30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
• Serve warm.

About this recipe: I thought twice about just using butter instead of vegetable shortening but I finally settled on following the instructions since I have shortening. Cutting it in was a snap with the help of a pastry cutter. I don't get all of this using your fingers stuff. It probably works fine, but what a mess!

Don't forget to set aside your topping once you've cut in the shortening. If you forget it, there's no going back. At this point, I tossed in the rest of the dry ingredients and gave it a good stir with a wire whisk. Switching to a wooden spoon, I stirred in the eggs and buttermilk until my dough came together.

I've been practicing my muffin filling technique, trying to fill them without getting batter anywhere else but inside the cups. I did alright with two small drops of batter falling on the outside edges. It takes patience and a clean spatula to slide the dough from the spoon. I'll let you know when I've perfected this.

My muffins were done at 20 minutes so I'm going to say 30 is probably excessive. The batter rose so I did get muffin tops but they were on the flat, disc-like side. The crumbles managed to stay on these muffins.

The result: I thought these muffins were just so-so. I don't think I'll make these again. The cinnamon and nutmeg is nice so it's reminiscent of carrot cake, but not nearly as flavorful. I would skip these in favor of the other buttermilk cupcakes.