This recipe is an ode to my Nana. When I was growing up we would go over to Nana and Papa’s house for dinner once a week. It was hands down the best dinner of the week, mainly because Nana would make things my mom wouldn’t. Want honey cinnamon rolls and homemade mac and cheese for dinner? You got it! And don’t forget to save room for dessert! I know my mom was cringing the whole time, but I have some of the best memories from those meals.
One of my favorite things Nana made was blueberry muffins with streusel topping, which she passed off as fancy dinner rolls. This lead to my rabbit hole of trying to find the perfect muffin. I’ve made blueberry muffin after blueberry muffin… it’s amazing how many of them come out dry and dense! But not these. There’s a reason I’m calling these “perfect” blueberry muffins… They’re extremely similar to Nana’s muffins, but dare I say even better?
Blueberry Muffins:
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1 1/4 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- Zest from 1 medium lemon
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 2 cups flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 cup milk
- 2 cups blueberries, washed and drained – if using frozen, do not thaw
Streusel:
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- Pinch of salt
Method:
To make the streusel topping: Cut the butter into the other streusel ingredients in a medium bowl. This can be done with your fingers or a fork, until the butter is in about pea size pieces. Set the bowl aside.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
To make the muffin batter: Using a mixer on medium speed, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in the vanilla, lemon zest, and lemon juice.
In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add to the butter mixture alternately with the milk. Mix until just incorporated.
Fold blueberries into batter. Line a cupcake/muffin pan with about 14-16 paper liners. Fill each about 2/3 full of batter. Top with streusel topping. Bake for 18-22 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Enjoy!
This recipe was adapted from Jordan Marsh’s Blueberry Muffins from The New York Times Cooking.
Equipment:
I have these Goldtouch cupcake/muffin pans and love them.
This is my favorite Microplane for zesting citrus.
I love this scoop for the perfect and uniform amount of muffin batter.
