Thanksgiving is only a week away. I have my game plan ready for picking up groceries, cleaning our home, and making preparations for our family meal next week. This year’s Thanksgiving is especially exciting since my parents will be visiting Kevin and I in Ohio. I haven’t seen them since July (when they traveled to Ohio for a family trip). My parents have been asking for me to cook a full meal for them since I started capturing all of my recipes and photos on my blog. When I went home for Christmas last year, I did cook and bake quite a bit, so they have had exposure to some of my delicious creations. They, however, insisted on having the full Thanksgiving experience, which led them to book their travels to Ohio for Thanksgiving this year. Thanksgiving is the perfect holiday to cook up a full meal for my parents. In preparation for their visit, Kevin and I have been aggressively cleaning our home. I’ve also been cooking and baking in bulk. The last few weeks have been tough with the extended work days, final projects in my leadership certificate program, and upcoming assignments in my professional baking class. In between all of the priorities, I’ve been trying to meal prep as much as possible to keep me from ordering takeout. Last week, I made a very large batch of chicken tortilla soup, divided up the soup into multiple portions, and brought the individual portions of soup to work all week long. This week, I had an intense craving for blueberry streusel muffins, and made a dozen for Kevin and I to bring for breakfast to work throughout the week. I’ve been making a ton of streusel in my professional baking lab classes, which is probably why I have been craving blueberry streusel muffins. Blueberry streusel muffins were one of my mom’s favorite breakfast items. Growing up, she would take my brothers and I to school and then treat herself to a blueberry streusel muffin on her way to work. She would even purchase blueberry streusel muffins whenever she had the chance (such as on our infrequent trips to Costco). I must have developed my love for blueberry streusel muffins from my mom after watching her eat them over the course of my childhood. Blueberry streusel muffins are a type of quick bread you can whip together in under an hour. Room temperature ingredients work best for baking up the tasty treats. Muffins are one of my favorite go-to breakfast items when I’m short on time and just want something where I can grab and run out the door in the morning. I’ve been making muffins a lot since I discovered my love for baking. I try not to make them too often, but when I do, I thoroughly enjoy them. I love the sweetness of the blueberries woven throughout the muffins, the crispy, sweet streusel topping, the warming spice of cinnamon mixed throughout, and the dense texture of the muffin. All of the flavors and textures of the blueberry streusel muffins combined together makes for a simple, yet wonderful treat. The blueberry streusel muffins were just what I needed to help me jump start my mornings this week. If my mom was in Ohio this week, she would not be able to resist these delightful treats.
For the muffins:
· 2 cups all-purpose flour
· 2 teaspoons baking powder
· ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
· ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
· ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
· 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
· 1 large egg, room temperature
· 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
· ¾ cup heavy cream, room temperature
· 1-2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
For the streusel:
· 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
· ½ cup all-purpose flour
· 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
· 3 tablespoons light brown sugar
· ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with cupcake liners.
2) In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside.
3) In a large bowl, mix the butter and sugar until combined. Add the egg and mix until the egg is incorporated into the butter and sugar. Add in the vanilla extract. Slowly pour in half of the flour mixture and half of the heavy cream. Stir to combine. Add the remaining flour mixture and heavy cream and stir until the ingredients are just incorporated.
4) Use a small ice cream scoop to scoop half of the batter evenly into the lined muffin tin. Toss in a handful of blueberries (about 6-8) into each of the muffin cups. Scoop the rest of the batter evenly into the remaining muffin cups. Top the muffin cups with another handful of blueberries (about 6-8). Set the filled muffin tin aside.
5) To make the streusel, cut all of the ingredients together using a pastry cutter (or your fingers). Distribute the streusel evenly throughout the muffin cups.
6) Place the muffin tin into the oven. Bake for 15 minutes. Turn the temperature down to 350°F and bake for another 10-15 minutes. Test doneness of muffins by inserting a knife into the center and checking to see if the knife comes out clean.
Takeaways: Streusel is used interchangeably with crumb topping. The streusel brings the muffins over the top, so I would not omit the streusel. The muffins are very versatile. You can easily fold in your favorite nuts or swap out the blueberries for some diced strawberries. The variations are endless. For a cake alternative, try my blueberry cinnamon crumb cake.