The Spiced Life

Musings & Recipes From My Kitchen

  • Home
  • About Me
  • FAQ
  • Dishes By Region
  • Archive and Index
  • Creative Cookie Exchange
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy
You are here: Home / blueberries / Conquering Blueberries and Streusel: Zach’s Blueberry Buttermilk Muffins with Streusel Topping

Conquering Blueberries and Streusel: Zach’s Blueberry Buttermilk Muffins with Streusel Topping

April 13, 2008 By Laura 4 Comments

Sharing is caring!

  • Facebook
  • Yummly
  • Twitter
  • Email

I have a new favorite cookbook! I just cannot keep out of Carole Walter’s Great Coffee Cakes, Sticky Buns, Muffins & More. It has all of my favorite baked goods, and the bundt cake selection is especially impressive. I have been cooking a lot of simple, healthy meals, frequently repeats for us, not really blog-worthy, so you guys are going to get more baked goods, both of them from Ms. Walter’s book. First, for today, her blueberry muffins.

I want to confess something before I rave about these muffins. I have never made streusel-topped blueberry muffins before, even though they are one of my favorites. This is because I have had trouble with streusel sinking in muffins and I usually have trouble with blueberries not sinking and bleeding. Between the 2 issues I have been scared off of blueberry muffins. So take it with a tiny grain of salt when I say these are the best blueberry muffins I have ever had. Even 2 days later they were still fabulous—one of my primary complaints about muffins in general. And the streusel is heavenly on them.

Zach’s Blueberry Buttermilk Muffins with Streusel Topping

Adapted from Great Coffee Cakes, Sticky Buns, Muffins & More, Carole Walter

Ingredients

¾ cup white whole wheat flour (sorry I did not weigh–just spoon it in and level it)

1 cup AP flour (126 g)

½ t baking powder

½ t salt

¼ t baking soda

2/3 cup room temperature unsalted butter (1 1/3 sticks)

2 t lemon zest

¾ cup superfine sugar

1 large egg

1 t vanilla extract

½ cup buttermilk

1 ½ cups fresh blueberries (washed and air dried)

Streusel (see recipe below)

Preheat the oven to 375 F. Line 12 muffin cups with paper.* Be sure to also spray the pan with nonstick spray so the tops don’t stick.

In a large bowl, thoroughly whisk together the flours, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Set aside.

Cream the butter in the bowl of a free standing mixer. Add the lemon zest and cream on medium speed until light and creamy, about 1 minute. Add the sugar in a steady stream, then blend in the vanilla and egg. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk, in 2 portions for the buttermilk and 3 for the flour. Scrape as needed and only mix until blended—do not overmix.

Using a large ice cream scoop, fill the muffin cups 2/3 full. Add a layer of blueberries over the surface of each cup, pressing the blueberries gently into the batter.** Then place a dollop of batter over the blueberries—it is ok if the blueberries show. Take a handful of the streusel topping and crumble it over the berries and batter, completely covering the tops of the muffins. Press gently to adhere.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the streusel topping is golden brown. If your oven bakes unevenly, rotate the pan front to back halfway through.

*Her recipe actually calls for 14 muffin cups, which I found really inconvenient. I distributed equally between 12 cups with just a bit leftover (basically I did not scrape the bowl very much) and was much happier with that. It did mean that I had to readjust the batter a bit as I filled the muffin cups and made sure I would have enough to go around.

**I put about 5-6 large blueberries in each muffin. Next time I would do more, maybe more like 7 or 8. I was nervous about them bleeding and sinking, but I shouldn’t have been—Ms. Walter’s strategy worked really well.

Carole’s Favorite Streusel

Adapted from Great Coffee Cakes, Sticky Buns, Muffins & More, Carole Walter

6-7 T unsalted butter

1 cup AP flour (126 g)

½ cup sugar

Pinch cinnamon

¼ t baking powder

¼ t salt

Place the butter in a heavy 2 qt saucepan and heat until almost melted.; remove from the heat and cool to tepid.

Whisk together the remaining ingredients. Add them to the butter and stir with a fork until blended and mixture begins to form crumbs. Gently squeeze the mixture with your hand to form large lumps and then break those lumps gently into smaller lumps. Before using, let the streusel stand for 10-15 minutes.

Filed Under: blueberries, buttermilk, muffins, quick breads, streusel

« Bill Yosses’ Best Chocolate Chip Cookies
The Frogs Are Back!: Whipped Cream Pound Cake with Chocolate Shavings »

Comments

  1. RecipeGirl says

    April 13, 2008 at 5:51 pm

    My kinda muffin… and I have this cookbook too. Most of the stuff in there looks just a bit too decadent for me to try (so I’ve dubbed it a once-in-a-great-while cookbook.)

    Reply
  2. Chuck says

    April 13, 2008 at 9:47 pm

    I love the sweetness of streusel on top of muffins. Looks good!

    Reply
  3. Anonymous says

    April 27, 2008 at 1:39 pm

    I usually don’t make the things on the blog, well, because I am not a great cook…but I was fascinated by these muffins. But Chris (my cook) doesn’t like blueberries or muffins. I was forced to fend for myself – the batter and streusel went well. Then I discovered we did not actually have a muffin pan to create muffins! It turned out ok in a square, glass pan. It seems to have cooked through, but the streusel did not get quite as brown on the top in the center.
    🙂 Natalie

    Reply
  4. Susan says

    April 7, 2009 at 11:53 am

    Made these muffins. They are GREAT!!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Hi! I’m Laura and I am a recovering history major who has re-channeled all of my passion for learning about the history of different countries to learning about their food culture. That doesn’t mean every dish on here is strictly authentic, but it does mean that even my adaptations are not undertaken lightly. My goal is to show you–by doing–that these dishes are possible in your kitchen. Including desserts because I have quite the sweet tooth! Read More…

Twitter Facebook Pinterest Instagram
Enter your email here and never miss a post!

Popular Posts

  • Restaurant Style Beef Vindaloo
  • Taralli Dolci di Pasqua (Southern Italian Easter Cookies): #CreativeCookieExchange
  • New Orleans Style Pain Perdu (French Toast)
  • Mexican Ramen Bowl
  • Grandma’s Beef and Noodles
  • Moroccan Inspired Couscous Bowl with Ground Beef, Veggies and Caramelized Onions (redux)
  • Middle Eastern Scrambled Eggs with Meat and Onion: Review of An Edible Mosaic
  • Saag Gosht (Beef in Fragrant Spinach Sauce)
  • Goan Influenced Goat Stew in the Slow Cooker
  • Bengali Mahi Mahi with Mustard Seeds

Copyright © 2008–2023 The Spiced Life