Pixie's Blue Muffins

I found the recipe for these muffins the year I got married and made them frequently enough that they became "my way" of making muffins.  Feel free to substitute fruit, citrus and if you add nuts, just take some space in the 1.5 cups for fruit, maybe 1 cup fruit and 1/2 cup nuts.  I have not made these muffins in recent years.  Other things have always been higher on my list, including not making a dozen large muffins for a family of three who are trying to eat a little healthier than I used to!  This week is not the time for that.  Having been focused on health more in the past few years, I felt great about making a treat like this for Christmas Eve morning.

I often begin recipes like this the night before.  Streusel and dry ingredient mix were done and sitting in bowls on the kitchen counter.  Muffin pan was out, egg was left out overnight and lemons sat on the zester so it was ready to grate early in the process.  All other ingredients were pulled from the pantry and by my own error, not all the measuring cups were pulled out, but here's a confession, I don't always get things right.  I find this kind of prep makes it easy to get up and put the recipe together and into the oven.  It also means I have everything I need.  Enjoy!

Pixie's Blueberry Muffins

Set oven to 400 F and prepare a large muffin tin.  I recommend using muffin paper liners AND greasing the top level of the pan, these lovely muffins rise a lot.

Struesel Topping:
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 Tablespoon soft butter
1/2 cup finely chopped nuts (walnuts, pecans, hazelnuts)

In a small bowl mix all these ingredients together until well blended and set aside.

Blueberry Muffins:
Dry Ingredients
2 3/4 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt

Combine these in a bowl and set aside.

Wet ingredients
1 1/3 cups brown sugar
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1 Tablespoon of citrus zest (lemon or orange work well with blueberries)
1 egg, room temperature is easiest to combine
1 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons vanilla

In a larger bowl whisk these ingredients until well combined, add dry ingredients and make sure you mix well, I like a rubber scraper.  Then add:

1 3/4 cups frozen blueberries

Gently mix the blueberries into the batter and using almost a cup measure, I fill each muffin cup completely.  Bake for 15 minutes and then without opening the door turn the temperature down to 350 F for another 10-15 until muffins are done.  Set on a rack until cool enough to lift out of pan (if you can stand the wait!) and allow to cool completely.