Blueberry Muffins

This is my favorite blueberry muffin recipe.  These muffins are so easy to make, and there is a good chance you already have all of the ingredients to make them on hand.  Except for maybe the blueberries… but I always keep frozen blueberries in my freezer to throw into smoothies, so when I decided to make these late last night, I didn’t have to make a trip to the store – so convenient!  FYI – my frozen blueberries are from Costco.  A month ago, I purchased a giant bag of plump organic frozen blueberries, and if I remember correctly, they were only $4.99 or so – what a deal!

I have made these muffins twice now – the first time I used whole milk and the second time I used 1% milk.  I couldn’t tell a difference between the two, so I recommend just using whatever milk you have on hand.  (And if you use 1% or non-fat, at least they will be a little bit healthier!)  You could also make these muffins healthier by omitting the streusel topping, but honestly that is my favorite part, so I would never skip that!  :)  These muffins are the perfect treat to make for breakfast, a special brunch, or just make them for dessert, as I did last night.  Enjoy!

Blueberry Muffins

(print recipe)

Ingredients

For the streusel topping:

• ¼ cup all-purpose flour
• 2 Tbsp. granulated sugar
• 2 Tbsp. firmly packed light brown sugar
• ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 Tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

For the muffins:

• 7 Tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
• ¾ cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup milk
• 1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 ½ cups fresh blueberries, or frozen unsweetened blueberries, unthawed

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Grease 12-16 standard muffin cups with butter or line with paper liners.
2. To make the topping, in a small bowl, stir together the flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and cinnamon.  Using a pastry blender or your fingers, cut or rub the butter into the flour mixture just until coarse crumbs form.  Alternately, combine the flour mixture and the butter in a food processor and pulse just until coarse crumbs form.
3. To make the muffins, in the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition until blended into the butter mixture. 
4. In another bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt.  Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in 2 additions, alternating with the milk and vanilla extract.  Stir just until evenly moistened.  (The batter will be slightly lumpy.)  Using a large silicone spatula, gently fold in the blueberries just until evenly distributed, no more than a few strokes.  Take care not to break up the fruit, and do not over-mix.
5. Spoon the batter into each muffin cup.  Sprinkle each muffin with some of the streusel topping. 
6. Bake the muffins until golden, dry, and springy to the touch, 20-25 minutes.  A toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin should come out clean.  Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let the muffins cool for 5 minutes.  Remove the muffins from the pan.  Serve warm or at room temperature. 

Yield: 12-16 muffins, depending on size (I like to make my muffins a little smaller, so I was able to get 16)

Source: Slightly adapted from The Williams Sonoma Baking Book

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