The Blueberry Muffins Heaven is Made Of

...Or at least when my dad made them they were. My dad made these this spring for a family brunch and that's exactly what I thought when I took a bite: "Heaven must be made of these muffins". The recipe is from "The Best of America's Test Kitchen: Best Recipes and Reviews 2008". The chefs from Cook's magazine tested all the classics over and over to make the best and most flawless recipes. No wonder they were so good. I wanted to attempt these last weekend, and was a little nervous, remembering how delicious they were the first time around. Like I said before, it's always good to cook with my parents because they show me all sorts of handy tricks. I should have baked these in my dad's kitchen because he would've reminded me to use Alton Brown's high-altitude adjustments which I thinks takes these muffins from yummy to heavenly.

Here's the streusel topping post-mixing. This is the best smelling part of the whole recipe!

Uh-oh. I followed all the rules and my batter still turned blue!

Half-time. I somehow managed to make Smurf muffins.

Right out of the oven. Not so blue anymore- phew!

There are some very important rules America's Test Kitchen outlines to make these muffins their absolute best: 1)Use frozen berries rather than fresh. They will have more flavor. They have to be frozen until the last second and tossed in flour to prevent them from sinking in the batter. If they thaw they will turn your batter blue. My batter turned blue, but I keep them frozen the whole time, I swear! I've got a big bag of dried blueberries for the next go around to see if that works any better.
2)Use only the directed amount of blueberries; too many will add too much moisture and make the muffins soggy.
3)Fold berries just when dry and wet ingredients combine. If you add them too early it turns the batter blue (maybe that was my problem). Too late and you can over mix the batter and make it tough.

Blueberry Streusel Muffins
from The Best of America's Test Kitchen: Best Recipes and Reviews 2008: May 2008

Streusel:

*1 1/4 cups (6 1/4 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
*1/3 cup (2 1/3 ounces) packed dark brown sugar
*1/2 tsp granulated sugar
*pinch of salt
*7 Tbs unsalted butter, metled

Muffins :
*1 large egg
*1 tsp vanilla extract
*1 cup (7 ounces) granulated sugar
*1 tsp grated lemon zest
*4 Tbs unsalted butter, metled and cooled slightly
*1/2 cup buttermilk
*2 cups (10 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
*1 Tbs baking powder
*1/2 tsp salt
*1 1/2 cups frozen blueberries

For the Streusel:

Combine the flour, sugars, cinnamon, and salt in a bowl. Drizzle with the melted butter and toss with a fork until evenly moistened and the mixture forms large chunks, with some pea-sized throughout.

For the Muffins:

Adjust the oven rack to the middle position and heat the over to 375 degrees. Spray a standard muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray. Whisk the egg in a medium bowl until pale and evenly combined, about 30 seconds. Add the vanilla, sugar, and zest and whisk vigorously until thick, about 30 seconds.

Slowly whisk in the melted butter; add the buttermilk and whisk until combined. Reserve 1 Tbs flour. Whisk the remaining flour, the baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Fold in the egg mixture until nearly combined. Toss the blueberries with the reserved 1 Tbs flour and fold into the batter until just combined.

Divide the batter among the prepared muffin cups and top with the streusel. Bake until light golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out with a few crumbs attached, 23 to 27 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the baking. Cool the muffins in the tin for 20 minutes, then carefully transfer to a rack to cool completely.

Yummy! I love me some freshly baked carbs!