Saturday, September 27, 2014

BLUEBERRY MUFFINS W/ STREUSEL TOPPING


ALWAYS on the hunt for a good muffin recipe and this one didn't disappoint!! My muffin criteria: must be light, moist and flavorful! These scored high in every area. A definite keeper! We have a dear lady in our church who was just recently widowed (a week ago) when her husband was killed in a very tragic work accident. It has only been a week, so it is still very fresh to her. But bless her heart, there she was this morning, at Saturday morning prayer breakfast, as usual, serving her Lord and cooking for the ones she loves. And to top it off, today is her birthday! A very hard weekend for her, I'm sure. So last night, I stopped at the church and decorated the fellowship hall with some festive birthday decorations in honor of her special day. I wanted everything in place before she got there this morning, knowing she would arrive before me. I know it's not the same, but thought it might lighten the heaviness a bit for her. Then this morning, I got up early and whipped up these little beauties as a surprise birthday treat for her. The first batch I made were in Happy Birthday muffin cups and had Happy Birthday picks stuck in the top of them. Unfortunately I didn't get a pic of those. Saturday mornings are usually a whirl of activity to get ready to go. ESPECIALLY when our precious 2 year old grandson, Gideon, spends the night on Friday! :-) I mean we HAVE to have "MooMoo" (my Grandma name from the grandbabies) and Giddy cuddle time and do cheers with our coffee cups together, before we rush into the day! :-)

BLUEBERRY MUFFINS

Yield: 24 muffins

3 cups all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, melted
3/4 cup whole milk
3/4 cup sour cream
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 to 2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
Streusel toppping (recipe follows)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a small bowl, prepare Streusel topping and set aside. A pampered chef, stone muffin pan works best for these, but if you don't have one, a metal one works just fine too. Fill muffin wells with paper liners. Lightly spray liners with cooking spray and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
In a small mixing bowl, melt 1 stick of butter, and add remaining wet ingredients: milk, sour cream, applesauce and vanilla. Whisk to combine. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients, stirring just until combined. Do not overmix your batter, or your muffins will be tough. Gently fold in fresh or frozen blueberries.
Divide batter evenly among prepared muffin cups. Sprinkle evenly with streusel topping.
Bake at 400 degrees for 5 minutes. Turn oven down to 350 and bake an additional 12 - 15 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.
Remove from pans and let cool on wire racks (if you can wait that long!) :-)

STREUSEL TOPPING

1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
3 Tblsp butter, softened

In a small bowl, combine flour, sugar, cinnamon and butter. Mash with fork or pastry blender until well combined and mixture is crumbly.