I’ve been remiss! I’ve inadvertently turned my back on the humble muffin in favour of their more high-brow cousin, the cupcake.
But no more! And, certainly not after tasting these absolutely sensational Spiced Blueberry Muffins with their aromatic Lemon Streusel topping. I made them for an impromptu family morning tea last week and have to say I was delighted with the result.
Packed full of juicy blueberries, surrounded by a delicately spiced sponge and topped with a delightfully crunchy lemon and cinnamon streusel – I only wish you could have smelled them straight out of the oven!
Thanks to Taste of Home.com for the lovely recipe. While I normally convert recipes to gluten-free (which you can do in this case simply by replacing the standard flour with gluten-free flour), I trialled some Italian flour this time around. I’d read lots of interesting theories about why people who have mild wheat/gluten sensitivities seem to have no problem with Italian wheat flour (it seems to come down to the way in which wheat over there is grown
and processed), and wanted to see if my family and I could tolerate it. Amazingly, we didn’t suffer any of the usual problems. So, while I’ll continue to go with gluten-free options in general, at least I can use Italian flour for those recipes (like cakes and breads) which benefit from the properties of gluten.
By the way, the streusel recipe makes about twice as much as you’ll need, so I recommend you freeze the rest for your next batch. Enjoy!
Spiced Lemon Blueberry Streusel Muffins
Equipment
- 1 Electric Whisk Optional
Ingredients
For the Muffins:
- 1/4 imperial cup butter, softened
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp almond extract
- 1/2 cup milk
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp ground cardamom
- 1-1/2 cups fresh or frozen* unsweetened blueberries
For the Lemon Streusel:**
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp grated lemon peel
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 cup cold butter, cubed
Instructions
For the Muffins:
- Preheat oven to 190°C (375°F).
- In a small bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy (I used an electric mixer to do this). Add egg and extracts; beat well. Then add milk and beat until just combined.
- In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt and cardamom, then fold in to creamed mixture just until combined. Fold in the blueberries – if using frozen blueberries, be careful not to overmix, or the batter will turn blue.
- Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups three-quarters full with the mixture.
For the Lemon Streusel:
- In a small bowl, combine brown sugar, flour, lemon peel and cinnamon. Cut in butter until moist and crumbly. Sprinkle over muffin batter.
- Bake for 23-27 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in muffin comes out clean.
- Cool 5 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack. Serve warm.
