Friday, February 1, 2013

mid-winter blues & blueberry muffins


January is over and I for one am happy to see it gone.  January is just one of those months where I seem to feel down in the dumps.  Cold, dreary weather and lack of sunlight leave me feeling sluggish and longing for spring.

The weather has been all over the map these past couple weeks.  We went from -16 frigid deep freeze temps to +14 with thunderstorms in a matter of a week and today, it's wintery outside...again.   I'm sure I'll be seeing much more of fluffy white stuff this month.  



But I won't let that get me down.  Spring is coming and before long I'll be making these muffins with fresh local berries, but for now, store-bought ones work just fine.   I found the recipe on where else...Pinterest.  It was another one I can say was a success.  So much so that I can't wait to make them again.  They were that good.  If you love muffins, and who doesn't, then these would be a perfect addition to your morning coffee. 

Have a fabulous Friday!


blueberry streusel muffins
recipe adapted from: a cook's quest

streusel topping
3 tablespoon white sugar
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1/3 cup flour
5 tablespoons melted butter

muffins
2 cups blueberries
1 1/8 cups plus 1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon water
2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
4 tbsp (½ stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly 
¼ cup vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk 
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
To make steusel, combine ingredients and mix in a bowl until it is the size of peas. Set aside.

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees.

Prepare standard muffin tins with nonstick cooking spray or liners.

Bring 1 cup blueberries, water,  and 1 teaspoon sugar to simmer in small saucepan over medium heat.

Cook, mashing the berries with your potato masher or fork several times and stirring frequently, until berries have broken down and mixture is thickened and reduced by about half.  (about 6 minutes).
Transfer to small bowl and cool to room temperature (10-15 minutes).

Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in large bowl.
Whisk remaining sugar and eggs together in medium bowl until thick and well combined.
Slowly mix in butter and oil until combined. Whisk in buttermilk and vanilla.
Using rubber spatula, fold egg mixture and remaining cup blueberries into flour mixture until just moistened. (Batter will be very lumpy with few spots of dry flour; do not over mix.)

Using a cookie scoop or large spoon, divide batter equally among prepared muffin cups (batter should completely fill cups and mound slightly). Spoon teaspoon of cooked berry mixture into center of each mound of batter. Using chopstick or skewer, gently swirl berry filling into batter using figure-eight motion. Sprinkle streusel evenly over muffins.

Bake until muffin tops are golden and just firm, 17 to 19 minutes. Cool muffins in muffin tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack and cool 5 minutes before serving.
Beun appetito!