Blueberry Muffins with a No Fail Streusel Topping

I've been searching for the perfect blueberry muffin recipe for a while now. I've tried countless recipes on the internet and I've come really close a few times but there was always something off about each recipe I tried. Too dry, too dense, too flavorless, too sweet, not sweet enough. I finally turned to a cookbook that I've had on the shelf for a few years (shocking, I know) and there it was...when I was least expecting it, I found it, the perfect blueberry muffin.

This muffin uses buttermilk and lemon zest to add to the flavor. It is light and perfectly sweet and tastes exactly like a blueberry muffin should. And the streusel on top is just perfect. If you're looking for a recipe to use up some blueberries give this one a try... you won't be disappointed!

Blueberry Buttermilk Muffins with Streusel Topping (Makes 14 Muffins)
Recipe: Adapted from "Great Coffee Cakes, Sticky Buns, Muffins, & More"
Ingredients:

• 1 recipe of streusel topping (recipe follows)
  
• 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour, spooned in and leveled
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 2/3 cup (1 1/3 sticks) unsalted butter, slightly firm
• 2 tsp finely grated lemon zest
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries

Directions:

1. Prepare the struesel topping (recipe follows).
2. Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven. Heat teh oven to 375 F. Line fourteen muffin cups with paper or foil cupcake liners.
   
3. In a large bowl, thoroughly whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.
4. Cut the butter into 1-inch pieces and place in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the lemon zest and mix on medium speed until smooth and lightened in color, about 1 minute. Add the sugar in a steady stream, then blend in the egg and vanilla, scraping down the side of the bowl as needed.
5. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk, dividing the flour into three parts and the buttermilk into two, starting and ending with the flour. mix just until blended after each addition.
   
6. Gently fold in half of the blueberries.
   
7. Fill each cup about 2/3 full. Place a layer of blueberries evenly over the batter, then place a dollop of batter on top of the blueberries. it's okay for the berries to show. Take a handful of the streusel topping and crumble it over the batter and berries completely covering the tops of the muffins with the crumbs. Press gently to adhere. Brush any stray crumbs from the top of the muffin pans using a small pastry brush.
8. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the streusel topping is golden brown. To ensure even baking, towards the end of baking time, rotate the pans top to bottom and front to back. Remove from the oven and place on a rack to cool.

Struesel Topping
Recipe from: "Great Coffee Cakes, Sticky Buns, Muffins, & More"
Ingredients:

• 6 - 7 tbls unsalted butter (See note)
  
• 1 cup all purpose flour, spooned in and leveled
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3 tbls finely chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

Directions:

1. Place the butter in a 2 qt heavy bottomed saucepan and heat until almost melted; remove from heat and cool to tepid.
2. Whisk together the flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, salt, and nuts (if using). Add to the butter and stir with a fork until blended and mixture begins to form crumbs. Gently squeeze the mixture with your hand to form larger lumps, then break them apart with your fingertips. Before using, let the streusel stand for 10 to 15 minutes.

Note: Start with 6 tablespoons of butter. If the crumb mixture appears to be too dry or too crumbly add a bit more butter. If the mixture requires additional butter, push some of the crumbs aside and place the butter in the cleared spot. Place the saucepan on low heat, positioning it so that the butter is over the heat.

Blueberry Cheesecake Ice Cream

Blueberries, cheesecake, and ice cream. Those are pretty much 3 of my favorite things, so naturally I absolutely loved this ice cream. Ross declared it the best ice cream that I've ever made (but to be fair he says that every time I make a new ice cream flavor).

I definitely had my doubts about this recipe. It uses no eggs and gets it cheesecake flavor from a packet of instant cheesecake flavored jello pudding. There is no actual cream cheese in this recipe, but if you tasted it, you wouldn't know. It came out amazing. It was creamy and rich and indulgent, the way ice cream should be!

A couple notes about the recipe:

1. It makes A LOT of ice cream. You may have to freeze the mixture in 2 batches depending on the size of your ice cream maker.
2. I used 2% milk for the ice cream and it was fine.
3. If you wanted to save time you could buy a premade graham cracker crust and crumble that into the ice cream instead of making the graham cracker crust yourself.
   

Recipe: Blueberry Cheesecake Ice Cream
Adapted from: AllRecipes.com

Blueberry Mixture:

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 1/4 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Graham Cracker Mixture:

• 2 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup butter, melted

Ice Cream:

• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 (3.4 ounce) package instant cheesecake or vanilla pudding mix
• 1 quart heavy whipping cream
• 2 cups milk (I used 2%)
  
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:

1. In a small saucepan, combine sugar and cornstarch. Gradually stir in water until smooth. Stir in blueberries and lemon juice. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes or until slightly thickened, stirring occasionally. Cover and refrigerate until chilled.
2. In a large bowl, combine the cracker crumbs, sugar and cinnamon. Stir in butter. Pat into an ungreased 15-in. x 10-in.x 1-in. baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for 10-15 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool completely on a wire rack.
3. In a large bowl, whisk the ice cream ingredients. Fill ice cream freezer cylinder two-thirds full; freeze according to manufacturer's directions. Refrigerate remaining mixture until ready to freeze. Whisk before adding to ice cream freezer (mixture will have some lumps).
4. Crumble the graham cracker mixture. In a large container, layer the ice cream, graham cracker mixture and blueberry sauce three times; swirl. Freeze.

Blueberry Crumb Cake

This is a serious crumb cake. No itty bitty crumbs here. The crumbs are not merely a topping for a cake, but a big part of the cake itself. The crumbs take up about half the height of the cake. They are massive and delicious!



I first saw this recipe on SmittenKitchen about a year ago and I do not know why I waited so long to make this! When I saw blueberries on sale at the store I knew exactly what I was going to make. Well actually, that's not true I suppose. I debated between this and To-Die-For-Blueberry Muffins. I've been wanted to those muffins for a long time now because they have 3000+ reviews and well... with a name like that they HAVE to be good...right?



But I digress...back to the crumb cake. The orginal recipe calls for rhubarb, but I'm not a huge fan so I replaced the rhubarb with blueberries, cut the sugar a down bit, and added the zest of 1 lemon. I'm pretty sure this recipe would be great with any (or no) fruit. Just make sure to adjust the sugar content accordingly. (I'm thinking cranberries with a little bit of orange zest for the next round)

The recipe comes together pretty easily. Some people on SmittenKitchen said they had problems with the crumbs being too floury but mine came together fine. I did use cake flour, not AP flour, like the original recipe calls for. You'll end up with 3 dirty bowls to clean, but it's well worth it. Make this!

Recipe
Adapted from SmittenKitchen
Ingredients:

Butter for greasing pan

For the blueberry filling:
1/2 pound blueberries
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons cornstarch
zest of 1 lemon

For the crumbs:
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick or 4 ounces) butter, melted
1 3/4 cups cake flour

For the cake:
1/3 cup sour cream
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup cake flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons softened butter, cut into 8 pieces

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease an 8-inch-square baking pan. For filling, toss blueberries with sugar, cornstarch and lemon zest. Set aside.

2. To make crumbs in a large bowl, whisk sugars, spices and salt into melted butter until smooth. Then, add flour with a spatula or wooden spoon. It will look and feel like a solid dough. Leave it pressed together in the bottom of the bowl and set aside.

3. To prepare cake, in a small bowl, stir together the sour cream, egg, egg yolk and vanilla. Using a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, mix together flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add butter and a spoonful of sour cream mixture and mix on medium speed until flour is moistened. Increase speed and beat for 30 seconds. Add remaining sour cream mixture in two batches, beating for 20 seconds after each addition, and scraping down the sides of bowl with a spatula. Scoop out about 1/2 cup batter and set aside.

4. Scrape remaining batter into prepared pan. Spoon blueberries over batter. Dollop set-aside batter over blueberries; it does not have to be even.

5. Using your fingers, break topping mixture into big crumbs, about 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch in size. They do not have to be uniform, but make sure most are around that size. Sprinkle over cake. Bake cake until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean of batter 45 to 55 minutes. Cool completely before serving.