Streusel-Topped Blueberry Muffins

Preparation

1. Heat oven to 400°F. Line 12 regular-size muffin cups with paper baking cups, or spray bottoms only of cups with cooking spray.
2. In medium bowl, stir 1/4 cup flour, the brown sugar and cinnamon until mixed. Cut in butter, using pastry blender or fork, until mixture is crumbly; set aside.
3. In large bowl, beat milk, oil and egg with fork or wire whisk until blended. Add 2 cups flour, the granulated sugar, baking powder and salt all at once; stir just until flour is moistened (batter will be lumpy). Gently stir in blueberries. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups. Sprinkle each with about 1 tablespoon streusel.
4. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. If muffins were baked in paper baking cups, immediately remove from pan to cooling rack. If muffins were baked in sprayed pan, leave in pan about 5 minutes, then remove from pan to cooling rack. Serve warm or cooled.

Tips

• Grease bottoms only of muffin cups. Muffins will rise higher in the cups if they can “grab” onto the sides.
• Beat wet ingredients first before adding dry ingredients. This will prevent the batter from being overmixed.
• Stir in dry ingredients all at once, just until moistened, to prevent overmixing.
• Fold in blueberries gently to prevent blueberries from releasing juice into the batter and turning the batter gray.
• The best muffins should be golden brown, slightly rounded with bumpy tops, tender, moist, even textured and easy to remove from the pan. Here are some things that can happen, with solutions to help: -Pale: the oven was not hot enough. -Peaked or smooth on top – too much mixing. -Tough and heavy – too much flour or mixing. -Dry: too much flour, oven too hot or baked too long. -Tunnels – too much mixing. -Sticks to pan – pan not greased correctly.
• Muffin batters with large pieces of nuts, fruit or chocolate work better for jumbo muffins; for mini muffins, use miniature chips and small pieces of fruit and nuts.
• Pans for baking muffin tops often have a dark nonstick surface; check the manufacturer’s instructions to see if reducing the oven temperature by 25°F is recommended.
• The traditional bread basket lined with a clean paper or cloth napkin is still the ideal way to serve warm-from-the-oven muffins. The napkin holds in some warmth while the open weave of the basket lets steam escape, which could otherwise condense and make the muffins soggy.
• If you choose to use mini-muffin pans, the batter will only need to bake for 10 to 15 minutes.

Nutrition Information