Beautiful Blueberry Muffins

Hope everyone has enjoyed a wonderful Holiday Season. How ever you may celebrate, whatever your beliefs, customs and traditions, hope you made every moment count. Life is too short and far too fragile to waste even a moment.

Sundays are meant to be savored, don’t you think? We should have some quality down time to recharge before heading out into the big world outside our door. If you start your Sunday attending Church Services, great! If not, that’s okay too. Sundays are the Lord’s Day of rest even for non-believers. We all need a day of rest.

Now if this recipe seems familiar, that means two things. First, you are right, I have shared this recipe in the past. And second, you’ve got a great memory – these are the muffins I shared on Christmas Morning 2018.

Christmas Morning 2021 was a little hectic in our house. We had our gifts to open, but also all the finishing touches to our Christmas at the Farm spread. And in our house, Christmas begins with Blueberry Muffins. It’s a tradition that dates back to when our children were children, before the grandchildren and great-grandchildren came along.

Kiddo asked how the tradition got started. Simple. Making and baking the muffins was something I could do while the stocking gifts were opened. By the time the stockings were emptied, the muffins were warm and ready. After muffins and coffee, it was time to get serious with the gifts under the tree before heading off to the farm for Christmas and more gifts, surrounded by the love of family.

This past Christmas morning I was a little behind schedule. So Hubby said he’d bake the muffins. Great! He looked in the pantry, wondering where I might have hidden the box of muffin mix. Silly man. I gave him our recipe. I could tell he was nervous. After all, he’s not really a baker. He’s not really a kitchen cook of any kind. Grill Master extraordinaire, but not so much at home in the kitchen. I had faith in Hubby. Baking requires being exact. And if there is one thing Hubby is good at, it’s being exact.

A few years back I taught him how to make Cashew Clusters. Now he goes to the bakery supply store, get the ingredients and makes them whenever the mood strikes him. I get the feeling these muffins might just be making an appearance more often now that he’s discovered the joy of baking. Oh yeah, not just Christmas any more.

Beautiful Blueberry Muffins
Brown Sugar Crumb Topping
3/4 teaspoon Cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon Kosher Salt
1/4 cup Brown Sugar
3/4 cup Flour
8 tablespoons Cold Butter

In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a blade, pulse cinnamon, salt, brown sugar and flour together. Cut in the butter, pulsing several times. Cover and set in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Blueberry Muffins
1-1/2 cups Flour
1 cup Brown Sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons Baking Powder
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1/3 cup Milk
1/3 cup Vegetable Oil
2 whole Eggs
1 teaspoon Vanilla
2 cups Blueberries

Heat the oven to 375 degrees and line muffin pan with paper liners or brush with Wilton’s Cake Release.

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, brown sugar, baking powder and salt.

In a small, deep bowl, whisk together the milk, vegetable oil, eggs and vanilla. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients. With a wooden spoon; fold gently until almost combined.

Add the berries and fold just until blended. Using a cupcake scoop, divide the batter among the muffin cups. Top with crumb topping.

For regular muffins, bake for about 20 to 25 minutes, or until golden and springy to the touch. For jumbo muffins, bake for about 10 minutes longer, checking every additional 5 minutes.

Remove from oven. Let rest in pan for about 5 minutes. Carefully remove from pan. If desired, serve with a little butter on the side.