Blueberry Banana Streusel Muffins

I’m back on my muffin kick. Something about the fresh summer fruits bursting with flavor just inspires me to test out new combinations for muffins. Not to mention down the Cape I have PLENTY of willing taste testers, which is a critical success factor for all muffin experimentation. Now these blueberry muffins were inspired by my Auntie Barbara who has a morning routine down the Cape which involves Dr. Bill biking to Ferretti’s Market in Brewster for a fresh blueberry muffin for her breakfast. Sometimes when I am on the bike trail in the morning for an early run I see Dr. Bill biking, and I chase him as fast as I can to try to steal that muffin, but always to no avail. So I told my Auntie Barbara I would make her a blueberry muffin that would be fresher and better than Ferretti’s. Because we all know I love a good little competition.

The key to a great muffin is fluffiness and flavor, at least in my opinion. I don’t like muffins that are too dense and I like fresh fruit in mine like cranberries or blueberries that literally pop with flavor when you bite into them. The first step to this muffin was buying the Texas sized muffin tins. You just can’t compete with bakery style muffins unless you make them jumbo-sized like the bakeries do. It’s basically the equivalent of two regular-sized muffins. I used to be a fan of mini muffins, until I realized I could put away about 12 of those without even looking leading to an unwanted muffin top of my own. Another thing that bakery muffins usually have is a crunchy top layer, and soft inside. I learned a trick from Sally’s Baking Addiction where she bakes her muffins for 5 minutes at 425 degrees F, and then turns it down to 375 degrees for the remaining baking time. I now bake all my muffins using this method and it makes a big difference.

For this muffin, I decided to mix two of my favorite breakfast flavors: banana and blueberry. I had two overripe bananas just ready to be mashed and blueberries were BOGO at the store last week so we had two cartons ready to go.

Yield: 6-7 jumbo muffins

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup buttermilk
  
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 3/4 cup mashed banana (2 small, very ripe bananas)
• 1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Streusel Topping:

• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 3 tablespoons butter, melted

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Line the 6 jumbo muffin tins (or 12 regular sized muffin tins) with paper liners and spray the insides with nonstick spray.

Step 2: In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients with a whisk: flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.

Step 3: In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, 3/4 cup light brown sugar, and granulated sugar. Whisk in the buttermilk, oil, mashed bananas and vanilla extract. Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix together gently with a spatula or wooden spoon until the dry ingredients are fully incorporated. Fold in the blueberries just until evenly distributed. 

Step 4: To make the streusel topping, combine the melted butter, light brown sugar, cinnamon and flour.

Step 5: Fill the muffin tins evenly with the batter. Sprinkle on some of the streusel topping to each muffin. Bake at 425 degrees F for 5 minutes, then lower the temperature to 375 degrees and continue to bake for 20-24 minutes, until the tops of the muffins are golden brown. 

Let the muffins sit in the muffin tin for a few minutes to cool before transferring them to a wire rack to finish cooling. Or better yet, serve these fresh for breakfast the same day. 

I love to enjoy a second-day muffin cut in half, toasted in the toaster with a pat of butter on top that gets all ooey gooey melty goodness filling in the nooks and crannies. Thank god for stretchy pants. 

So I know you’re all waiting with baited breath … but yes Auntie Barbara gave these muffins two very big thumbs up. Said they tasted just like a bakery muffin (maybe even better!)  And Dr. Bill was happy he got a morning off from biking to the bakery. And we all lived happily ever after, the end.