Blueberry Streusel Muffins
Blueberry Muffins that are not skimping out on flavor and texture!
The Facts
Blueberry Streusel Muffins are a classic breakfast pastry, a good combo of sweet and savory and a good way to showcase fresh blueberries. However, what our analysis revealed was that there was a lot of room when it comes to the spices and flavors within the blueberries themselves. Blueberries are mostly water leaving them with a mild flavor and thus in need of some enhancement. Our recipe is designed to address this flavor vacuum while keeping the core texture and essence untouched.
Blueberry muffins, and muffins in general, aim to have a moist and warm interior with a nice crunchy exterior. To keep the moisture on the inside almost every recipe in the analysis used either sour cream or yogurt. We decided to keep within theses bounds and use a creamy vanilla yogurt as our predominant source of moisture. The vanilla yogurt adds the necessary moisture with just a touch of extra vanilla flavor. There is room for flexibility here, the yogurt you choose can add just a tad bit of uniqueness to the muffins to make them your own. We personally stuck with vanilla as not to conflict with the blueberries as the showcase.
In the world of spices there was not much to analyze, sadly. About half of the recipes included no spice at all, leaving the blueberries alone in a vanilla flavored cake. There is nothing wrong with that approach, but we wanted more. And by more, we thought that should extend beyond lemon zest, the most common spice (if it would be considered that) across our analyzed set. Cinnamon is a common spice in fruity pies and desserts because it adds some depth of flavor without distracting (when done in the right quantity). We lean on cinnamon to spice up the batter beyond vanilla while keeping the lemon zest and including just a tad of allspice. This keeps the batter tasting sweet without overwhelming the blueberries.
We also take the typical amount of sugar and split 1/3 of it into brown sugar, which adds a deeper sugar flavor directly into the batter itself as opposed to leaning on brown sugar solely for the streusel.
When it comes to salt, we did not want to skimp out. Blueberries sitting in a sweet and cinnamon infused batter could be forgotten about, so we wanted to keep sodium levels up to make sure every flavor could pop. We incorporated two teaspoons of salt, on the upper end compared to most recipes, directly into the batter, to make sure that every blueberry was noticeable.
In addition to the batter, sea salt is in the streusel to add pops of salt for more enhancement. The streusel is designed to give the crust, everyone’s favorite part of the muffin, even more of a reason to love it. Course sea salt gives just the right amount of salt pop without making it just taste salty. The butter/brown sugar combo ensures that a bite all the way through the muffin will have the perfect sweetness, with core of the bite focusing on spice-enhanced blueberries.
It is probably clear the goal was to highlight blueberries in the muffin by creating the perfect environment to house them, as opposed to just a sort of vanilla cake. Our main way of achieving that was creating batter with a more complex spice setup. There is a way, though, to take it to the next level with… basil. Sweet Basil, specifically, and blueberries pair nicely together. So, if you want even more emphasis on those blueberries, adding just ½ to 1 tsp of dried sweet basil can do just that. We recommend mixing it in with the flour you toss the blueberries. This will prevent the batter from tasting like basil and rather just draw attention to the blueberries themselves. Ginger can have a similar effect, though it reminded us too much of Christmas desserts, so we would not advise it year-round.
These blueberry muffins, with their brown sugar cinnamon streusel, pack the right flavor to deliver the perfect blueberry muffin bite.
Let us know how yours turned out! Did you try the basil addition or stick to the cinnamon/allspice/lemon wheelhouse?
Blueberry Streusel Muffins
Ingredients
For the Streusel:
- 1 tbsp Unsalted Butter (14g)
- 1/4 cup Dark Brown Sugar (47g)
- 1 tsp Coarse Sea Salt
- 2 tbsps All Purpose Flour (15g)
- 1 tsp Ground Cinnamon (2g)
For the Muffin Base:
- 2 1/4 cup All Purpose Flour (300g)
- 2 tsp Kosher Salt (2,240 mg of sodium)
- 1 tbsp Baking Powder (15g)
- 1 tbsp Ground Cinnamon (6g)
- 1/4 tsp Ground Allspice (1g)
- 1/2 cup Unsalted Butter - room temperature (113g)
- 2 Large Eggs
- 2/3 cup Granulated Sugar (167g)
- 1/3 cup Dark Brown Sugar (90g)
- Zest from 1 Lemon
- 1 1/2 cup Vanilla Yogurt (300g)
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
For the Blueberries:
- 1 3/4 cup Fresh Blueberries (448g)
- 2 tbsps All Purpose Flour (15g)
Instructions
To make the Streusel:
- Melt the 1 tbsp of Unsalted Butter in a small bowl in the microwave (~15-30 seconds). Add the 1/4 cup Dark Brown Sugar, 1 tsp Coarse Sea Salt, 2 tbsps of All Purpose Flour, and the 1 tsp of Ground Cinnamon to the melted butter.
- Stir together until all dry ingredients have been absorbed by the butter and it now has a coarse sandy texture. Set aside.
To make the Muffins:
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a muffin sheet pan with muffin liners and give a quick spray with oil to ensure they do not stick (you can omit the liners and just give it a good spray if you do not have any on hand). Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, combine 1 3/4 cup of Blueberries and 2 tbsps of All Purpose Flour. Making sure each blueberry gets fully coated in flour. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer or a large bowl (if you only have a hand mixer), add the 1/2 cup of Unsalted Butter, 2/3 cup of Granulated Sugar, and 1/3 cup of Dark Brown Sugar. Mix together on medium speed for 2-3 minutes or until the sugars have well incorporated into the butter. Scraping down the sides as necessary.
- Add in 1 Egg, Lemon Zest and the 1 tsp of Vanilla Extract. Mix on medium speed for 1 minute. Add in the other 1 Egg and again mix on medium speed until incorporated. Scraping down the sides as necessary.
- Add in the 1 1/2 cups of Vanilla Yogurt. Mix on medium speed for 2-3 minutes - making sure to scrap down the sides and the bottom of the bowl so that all gets fully incorporated into the yogurt.
- Meanwhile, in a separate large bowl, sift together the 2 1/4 cups of All Purpose Flour, 2 tsps of Kosher Salt*, 1 tbsp of Baking Powder, 1 tbsp of Ground Cinnamon, and the 1/4 tsp of Ground Allspice.
- Once the yogurt mixture is fully incorporated, add in half of the flour mixture. Mixing on low speed until incorporated. Scrap down the sides and then add the other half, again mixing on low. The dough should now be formed and it will be quite sticky and thick.
- Fold in the blueberries, evenly distributing them throughout the dough.
- Scoop the dough into each muffin tin, filling it all the way to the top of the liner and smoothing them out with a butter knife as necessary to create an even top.
- Sprinkle streusel across each top (we usually fully coat ours, but the amount per muffin is up to your taste).
- Bake for 25-27 minutes until muffins are golden on top or a toothpick comes out clean from the center.
- Enjoy!