Blueberry Streusel Muffins

I love Blueberry Muffins, or actually almost any muffin, and blueberries are abundant right now so I thought I would make some.  I already have a recipe on the blog and a video on youtube for blueberry muffins, so for these one I have decided to add a streusel topping, to give a little bit of crunch and extra flavour.

The recipe is, as for most muffins, very simple indeed.  It doesn’t take long to make and bake either, which is always a good thing.  I varied my recipe slightly, in that I used natural yoghurt instead of buttercream or milk. In fact any number of such liquids could be used, whole milk, semi-skimmed, buttermilk, sour cream, creme fraiche, yoghurt etc.  I even considered using mascarpone and will try that at some time, but for today I needed to use up some yoghurt.

I used fresh blueberries but frozen, straight from the freezer, would work very well too.  If using frozen don’t thaw them out before use or they will bleed heavily into the batter and colour it too much. 

I also considered putting some chopped nuts into the streusel topping and I am sure it would have worked very well, but in this instance I decided they didn’t need it.  The amount of streusel is a matter of taste too,  more or less depending on your own choice is good.  Also think about adding some chopped nuts to the streusel if you like that.

My muffins baked very well indeed, they were nice and light inside, and filled with those lovely blueberries. The streusel topping made an immense difference to the taste and texture, and also to the aroma emanating from the oven during baking.  

I am going to make these again, very soon, but with raspberries(frozen I think will be best) and I am sure they will be great.  You could actually use any number of fruits, or even a mixture, in the muffin batter, to suit your specific taste and likes.

Ingredients:
for the muffin batter

• 375g(2 1/2 cups) plain flour
• 200g(1 cup) caster sugar
• 2 medium eggs(large in USA)
• 8g(2 tsp) baking powder
• zest from one small lemon
• 250ml(1 cup) natural yoghurt 
• 225-230g (2 cups roughly) blueberries
• 113g(1/2 cup/1 stick) softened unsalted butter
• pinch of salt

for the streusel topping:

• 50g(1/4 cup) soft light brown sugar/ dark brown sugar/muscovado sugar
• 50g(1/3 cup)plain flour
• 42g(3 tbsp) chilled butter
• 1/4 to 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon, depending on taste

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 190C/170C Fan/375 F.
2. Line a 12 hole muffin tin with paper cases, or grease and flour the cups.
3. Add the cinnamon to the flour and then add the sugar as well and stir around.
4. Add the butter and cut into the flour, with a pastry cutter or two knives, or rub in using your fingertips, until you have a crumbly texture.
5. In a large bowl place the softened butter and the sugar and cream together, mixing in the lemon zest too.
6. Add the eggs , one and a time and mix in until fully combined.
7. Add the baking powder and the salt into the flour and stir to combine.
8. Add half the flour into the wet batter and mix to combine.
9. Add the yoghurt and mix to combine.
10. Add the remaining flour and mix until fully combined.
11. Stir in the blueberries until evenly distributed.
12. Spoon the mixture, fairly equally, into the 12 paper cases.
13. Sprinkle the streusel mixture over the top.
14. Place in the oven and bake for about 30 to 35 minutes, until a skewer poked into the centre comes out clean.
15. Remove from the oven and leave for 2 minutes, then transfer the muffins to a wire rack to cool completely.