Lemon Crusted Blueberry Muffins

These beauties are INCREDIBLE!! I've never had much luck with homemade muffins - they usually turn out dry and like little bricks! These, however, are so moist and wonderful! This recipe makes an incredible muffin base recipe - can't wait to see what else I can come up with it! :)

Enjoy!



Lemon Crusted Blueberry Muffins

Lemon Sugar Topping:
1/3 Cup Sugar
Zest from One Lemon

Muffins:
2 Cups Frozen Blueberries (or fresh)
1 1/8 Cups plus 1 Tsp Sugar
2 1/2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
2 1/2 Tsp Baking Powder
1 Tsp Salt
2 Large Eggs
4 Tbsp Butter, melted and cooled slightly
1/4 Cup Oil (vegetable or canola)
1 Cup Buttermilk
1 1/2 Tsp Vanilla Extract

Topping:
Stir together sugar and lemon zest - set aside.

Muffins:
Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a standard (24 cup) muffin tin with cooking spray. Rinse one cup frozen berries under cold water - spread on double layer of paper towels to dry well. Bring remaining one cup berries and 1 tsp sugar to simmer in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, mashing berries with a spoon several times and stirring frequently until the berries have broken down and the mixture is thickened and reduced to about 1/3 cup (about 6-8 minutes). Transfer to a small bowl and cool to room temperature - about 10-15 minutes.

Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl. Toss the berries that have dried on the paper towels in with the flour mixture. Whisk remaining 1 1/8 cups sugar and eggs together in medium bowl until thick. Slowly whisk in the butter and oil until combined - add in buttermilk and vanilla until combined. Using a rubber spatula, fold egg mixture into flour mixture until just moistened. The batter will be lumpy with a few dry spots of flour - don't over mix (this is the key to moist and tender muffins).

Using ice cream scoop or large spoon - divide the batter equally into muffin tin (batter should fill cups). Spoon a teaspoonful of cooked berry mixture into the center of each muffin batter. Using a skewer (or chopstick), gently swirl the berry filling into the batter (using a figure-eight motion). Sprinkle lemon sugar evenly over the muffin batter.

Bake until the top of the muffins are golden and just firm - about 17-18 minutes. Cool muffins for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack and cool for an additional 5 minutes before serving.