True Blue…a perfect blueberry muffin every time!

Blueberry Muffins

Do you love summer as much as I do? This summer I got the chance to take several mini-vacations, had lots of out-of-town company come and visit, and of course our Sunday, family barbeques. It’s a time of year when the pace of your life seems to move a little slower and you get to spend some quality time with the people around you.

I also love summer food; hot dogs and hamburgers on the grill, corn from the farmer’s market and lots of summer berries.  As the season is quickly drawing to a close, I wanted to take the opportunity to bake these muffins while I was still able to get the blueberries fresh. This is a tried and true, no-fail, comfort food to the max, blueberry muffin recipe. I love it because the muffins are light, filled with fresh berries, and has lots of crunchy streusel topping.

Blueberry Streusel Muffins

Adapted from Cooks Illustrated

Streusel Topping

• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 4 teaspoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon packed light brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces, softened
• Pinch salt
• 1/2 cup pecan halves

Muffins

• 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 cups pecan halves, toasted and cooled
• 1 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 2 cups fresh blueberries

Blueberry Muffins

For the Streusel: Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees. Process flour, sugar, brown sugar, butter and salt in food processor until mixture resembles coarse sand, 4 to 5 pulses. Add pecans and process until pecans are coarsely chopped, about 4 pulses. Transfer to small bowl and set aside.

For the Muffins:

1. Spray a 12-cup muffin tin with baking spray (the kind with flour). Whisk flour, baking powder, 3/4 teaspoon salt together in bowl; set aside.

2. Process toasted pecans and sugar until mixture resembles coarse sand, 10-15 seconds. Transfer to large bowl and whisk in eggs, butter, and milk until combined. Fold flour  mixture into egg mixture until just moistened and no streaks of flour remain. Set batter aside for 30 minutes to thicken.

3. Using rubber spatula, gently fold the blueberries into the batter. use an ice cream scoop or large spoon to divide batter equally among prepared muffin cups. Evenly sprinkle streusel topping over muffins, gently pressing into batter to adhere. Bake until muffin tops are golden and firm, 17-18 minutes, rotating tin from front to back halfway through baking. Cool muffins in tin on wire rack for 10 minutes. remove muffins from tin and cool for at least 10 minutes before serving.