Blueberry streusel muffins 藍莓酥菠蘿馬芬

The berries are in season now, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries and blueberries. Every time we go to the grocery store, they are on sale, so we took full advantage of it and bought a lot home. I washed them and stored them in containers so that they would come handy when I made energy soup. As I was opening the lid of the containers, the smell of the blueberries came right into my nose. Wow! They smell so~ good! These are some good quality blueberries -- firm and fragrant; I'd better make something out of them. Let's start with blueberry muffins for breakfast.

I came across this recipe as I was browsing online. The procedure is a little different from the one I was familiar with, so I tried it out, and it is amazingly good. I prepared the dry ingredients and wet ingredients separately and put them in the refrigerator the night before. In the morning, mixed them together and baked. The warm muffins would be ready in 20 minutes!

Dry ingredients (makes about 8 medium-size muffins):

• 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup of granulated sugar (see note)
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3 1/2 Tbsp butter

Wet ingredients:

• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F (177C).  Place rack in middle of oven. Line 8 muffin cups with paper liners or spray with a non stick vegetable spray.

2. In a bowl, mix together the wet ingredients. In a large mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Cut the butter into small pieces and blend into the flour mixture with a fork. (The mixture should look like coarse crumbs.) Remove 1/4 cup of the mixture and set aside in a separate bowl to make the streusel topping. (Stop here if plan to bake in the morning.)

3. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Gently fold them together until just combined. Add in 2/3 cup of blueberries (fresh or frozen) and gently mix them. (Do not over mix this mixture or the muffins will be tough when baked.)  

4. Fill each muffin cup with the batter, using two spoons or an ice cream scoop. 

5. For streusel topping:  Melt another 1/2 Tbsp (7 g) butter and drizzle over the reserved 1/4 cup of streusel topping. Mix together with a fork until it is crumbly and looks like coarse meal. Sprinkle a Tbsp of the streusel over the top of each muffin. 

6. Place in the oven and bake until very lightly browned and firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 18 - 22 minutes. Place on a wire rack to cool.

Note: The original recipe calls for 1/2 cup of sugar. I already cut it down to 1/3 cup.