We're down to the last of the summer fruits. Over the winter, we work to eat our freezer bare. We eat green beans, spinach, raspberries, blueberries, and plum tomatoes picked when ripe and frozen to appreciate when the green is gone. Now it is early spring, we are down to the last of just about everything, including the blueberries we picked back in high summer.
This recipe came to us for coffee cake, but we made it into muffins to make it more portable. We also simplified a few of the steps to make them easier to make with a small-handed helper. As written, this recipe is adaptable and kid-chef friendly.
Blueberry Coffee Cake Muffins
Makes 12
--Topping--
6 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 c flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
4 tbsp cold butter, cut into 1/4" cubes
--Batter--
2 c flour (half whole wheat if on hand)
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c butter, melted
3/4 c sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
Zest of 1 lemon
1/2 c milk
2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
Step 1: Preheat oven to 375F
Step 2: Make topping in a bowl by rubbing the ingredients together with your thumb and forefinger until fully incorporated and able to be formed into loose 'crumb' clumps. Set aside.
Step 3: Combine flour(s), baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Set aside. Mix together butter, sugar, and eggs in the bowl of a stand mixer or with a hand mixer or whisk until smooth. Add vanilla and lemon zest. Add 1/3 of flour mixture, then 1/2 of milk, 1/3 of flour mixture, then remainder of milk. Finish with last of flour mixture, mixing until just combined after each addition. Fold in frozen blueberries.
Step 4: Portion batter into a greased or lined 12 muffin tin, generously filling each section. Crumble crumb mixture onto muffins, pressing down lightly as needed. This will be messy/imprecise. That's okay.
Bake 30-35 min.
Don't want muffins? This recipe could be baked as a 6x10ish cake. Just keep it in the oven for an additional 5-10 minutes.
