I was looking for a recipe to use up some leftover blueberries and well, this recipe had me at brown butter. Okay, at streusel too. You know how I am a sucker for streusel! Please don’t be intimidated by the brown butter. It sounds fancy, but really you just melt butter in a saucepan until it turns golden brown. As long as you don’t burn it, that’s all there is to it. The first time I made brown butter, I was nervous. I almost dumped it because there was a bunch of brown specks. I thought for sure I messed up. It sure wouldn’t be the first time. But after a quick check online, I realized that’s just right.
I only used half the amount of the blueberries called for in the recipe because that was all baby Alex would spare. But, I liked it this way because the berries didn’t overwhelm the taste of the muffin. And, oh my goodness, the muffin itself is delicious. I am the only one in the family who likes blueberry muffins. I have told you before that my family is a little crazy, right? I didn’t want to eat all the muffins, so I brought them to work and had some very happy coworkers. As I was eating my muffin, I was thinking how good it was, even without the blueberries. It would make a lovely crumb cake muffin that my coffeecake-loving husband would go crazy for. I think I’ll try that next time, maybe even with a ribbon of cinnamon sugar or sweet cream cheese? This is the perfect base for experimenting with different flavors. But, I have to say, blueberry is a darn good place to start.
Brown butter blueberry streusel muffins
Yield: 12 muffins
For the muffin:
7 Tablespoons unsalted butter cut into a few pieces
1/3 cup buttermilk I used regular milk
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups fresh blueberries I used about 1 cup
Place rack in the upper third of the oven. Preheat to 375 F. Line a standard muffin tin with 12 cupcake liners. Set aside.
Place a small skillet (not nonstick or you won’t see the color change) over medium heat. Add the 7 tablespoons of butter. Move the butter around with a spoon until it is melted, turns a medium brown color and smells nutty. Remove from the heat right away, before it turns black. Transfer to a bowl to cool.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the milk, egg, yolk, and vanilla until well combined. Stir in the cooled brown butter.
In a separate medium bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Pour in all the milk mixture and stir gently with a spatula. Do not over mix. Carefully fold in the blueberries then divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin pan. I used a medium cookie scoop. Make the streusel topping.
Combine the 3 ingredients in a small bowl. Rub together with your fingers until the mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle evenly over the muffin batter in the cups.
Bake the muffins for 20 – 22 minutes, or until a little golden. Test with a toothpick. Cool in the muffin tin for 15 minutes before removing. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Source: Joy the Baker Cookbook via Pennies on a Platter
The color of this ice cream is amazing and it tastes so intensely of fresh strawberries, it’s unbelievable. I don’t make ice cream very often because I have found that any time I make it with heavy cream, though it tastes good, my husband and I notice a weird film in our mouths. I can’t figure out why that is so if anyone has any ideas, I would love to know because I love ice cream. But, this recipe uses yogurt instead, so I didn’t have that problem. In late August, raspberries will be available for picking at the farm. We are already so excited to go and I think I have an idea of what to do with them. Raspberry frozen yogurt anyone???
