Blueberry Streusel Muffins

By Mariealicerayner @MarieRynr

Last weekend  I thought I would take advantage of the last of our blueberries to bake some delicious muffins to take to the Missionary street display in town.  It ended up being cancelled, and so I gave half to my elderly friend Doreen and then we enjoyed the rest of them here at home.

This is a fabulous recipe.  It makes a dozen super big muffins, which are just stogged full of fresh blueberries!
 
Buttermilk helps to make them very moist.   And of course there is plenty of lemon zest in the batter, which gives them a lovely lemon background which goes so very well with the blueberries.

The streusel bakes into the top of the muffins creating a crisp and sweet sugary crunch, which is quite moreish . . .  especially if you are a muffin top lover like I am!

These really are like the epitome of everything that you want in a GOOD blueberry muffin!
 
*Blueberry Streusel Muffins*Makes 12 large muffinsPrintable Recipe 
These are moist, stogged full of berries and delicious. 
350g of plain flour (2 1/2 cups)1 TBS baking powder1 tsp baking soda1/2 tsp salt125g of unsalted butter, melted and cooled (1/2 cup)190g of sugar (1 cup)the finely grated zest of one lemon (optional)2 large free range eggs1 TBS vanilla extract225ml of buttermilk (1 cup)225g of blueberries, fresh or frozen (1 1/2 cups) 
For the Streusel topping:22g of sugar (1/4 cup)1 TBS plain flour2 tsp unsalted butter, meltedpinch of ground cinnamon 

Make the streusel by combining all of the ingredients until well mixed.  Set aside.
Preheat the oven to 225*C/425*F/ gas mark 7.  Butter a 12 cup muffin tin and line with paper liners.  Whisk the flour, soda, baking powder, and salt  together in a large bowl.  Set aside.   Rub the sugar and the lemon zest (if using) together until quite fragrant.  Whisk in the eggs, butter, milk and vanilla until well combined.   Add the wet ingredients all at once to the dry ingredients.  Fold together using a rubber spatula until just combined.  There may still be lumps and dry streaks, which is alright.   Fold in the berries gently.   Divide the batter between the muffin cups.   Sprinkle the streusel evenly over top.

Bake for 5 minutes.
Reduce the oven temperature to 190*C/375*F/ gas mark 5. and continue to bake for a further 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.   Cool in the pan for five minutes before tipping out onto a wire rack to finish cooling.   These are best enjoyed the day of baking, but any leftovers can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days, or frozen for up to 3 months.   To defrost, thaw for about 30 seconds in the microwave.