Blueberry Muffins

Blueberry Muffins are one of my favorites! These are so much better than the usual mix I always make and that my mom used to make me (minus the blueberries because I swore I didn't like them - apparently my girls have inherited that from me). Of course the leopard muffin cups that I found at Michaels only made them that much better. :)

Ingredients:

Muffins

2 cups of fresh blueberries
1 1/8 cups plus 1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon water
2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon table salt
2 large eggs
4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
¼ cup vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Streusel Topping
3 T white sugar
3 T brown sugar
1/3 cup flour
5 T melted butter

Combine streusel ingredients together until it is about the size of peas and set aside.

Make sure oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees.

Prepare muffin tins with nonstick cooking spray or baking liners.

Bring 1 cup blueberries, water and 1 teaspoon sugar to simmer in small saucepan over medium heat while mashing the berries with a potato masher or fork and stirring frequently for about 6 minutes. Berries will break down and mixture will be reduced by about half. Transfer to small bowl and cool to room temperature, 10 to 15 minutes.

Whisk flour, baking powder and salt together in large bowl. Whisk remaining sugar and eggs together in medium bowl until thick and well combined. Gradually mix in butter and oil until combined. Whisk in buttermilk and vanilla. Using rubber spatula, fold egg mixture and remaining cup blueberries into flour mixture until just moistened. Batter will be very lumpy with spots of dry flour; do not over mix.

Completely fill muffin cups and mound slightly. Spoon teaspoon of cooked berry mixture into center of each mound of batter. Using a skewer, gently swirl berry filling into batter using figure-eight motion. Sprinkle streusel evenly over muffins.

Bake until muffin tops are golden and just firm, 17 to 19 minutes. Cool muffins in muffin tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack and cool 5 minutes before serving.

Makes 12 servings - 390 calories (according to the wonderful recipe calorie calculator)