Blueberry Crumb Muffins

As much as I buy huge containers of summer blueberries to enjoy the health benefits of eating fresh blueberries out of hand, I eventually break down and end up making what people really want: blueberry muffins.

All of my close-up muffin glamour shots came out fuzzy, but trust me here folks, they were good. This recipe is from Nick Malgieri's The Modern Baker. His recipe says it makes 12, but I had enough for 18 regular sized muffins.

Blueberry Crumb Muffins

Crumb Topping

1 c. flour

1/2 t. baking powder

1/3 t. cinnamon

6 T. unsalted butter

1/2 c. brown sugar

Muffin Batter

2 1/2 c. flour

2 t. baking powder

1/4 t. salt

1/4 t. freshly grated nutmeg

8 T. (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

3/4 c. sugar

1/2 c. brown sugar

2 lg. eggs

1/2 c. milk

1 pint blueberries, rinsed, drained, and picked over

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees (Note: if I were to do these again, I'd cook them at 350 - my muffin tops got a little too dark.)

2. For the crumb topping, combine the flour, baking powder and cinnamon in a medium mixing bowl and stir well to mix. Melt the butter in a small pan. remove from the heat, then add the brown sugar to the pan of melted butter and use a small heatproof rubber spatula to stir them together. Scrape the butter and sugar mixture into  the flour mixture, stirring it in  until the flour is evenly moistened. Set aside while preparing the muffin batter.

3. Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg in a mixing bowl and stir well to mix.

4. Combine the butter and sugars in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium speed for about 1 minute, or until well mixed and a little lightened in color. Beat in the eggs one at a time, beating smooth after each.

5. Decrease the mixer speed to low and beat in  1/2 the flour mixture. Stop the mixer and use a large rubber spatula to scrape down the bowl and the beater.

6. On low speed, beat in the milk. After the batter has absorbed the milk, beat in the remaining flour mixture. Stop and scrape down the bowl and beater again. Gently fold in the blueberries.

7. Remove bowl from mixer and give the mixture a final stir with a spatula to ensure everything is incorporated.

9. Divide batter in the lined muffin tins (I got about 18 muffins) and sprinkle topping evenly over tops of muffins. Bake 20-30 minutes, until muffins are well risen and feel firm to the touch. Cool the muffins in the pan on a rack.