Blueberries are a coming!

Although summer is not my favorite season (I dislike greatly mosquitos and humidity), I do love having a break from school, fun beach and pool days, and especially seasonal fruit and veggies. Here in eastern NC we are blessed with local blueberry farms that offer "u-pick" at a very good price at $1 a pound. The best time to pick is coming up at the beginning of July, so I thought I would share some of my favorite recipes with this delicious, antioxidant filled fruit. My boys are big fans of these. The muffins are even better the next day. The recipe is from www.joyofbaking.com.

Blueberry Streusel Muffins:

1 cup milk
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated white sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
1/2 tablespoon grated lemon zest

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place rack in middle of oven. Line muffin pans with paper liners or spray with a vegetable spray. In a small measuring cup mix together the milk, eggs, and vanilla extract. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut the butter into small pieces and blend into the flour mixture with a pastry blender or two knives. The mixture should look like coarse crumbs. Remove 1 cup of the mixture and place in a small bowl to make a streusel topping later. Gently fold in the blueberries and lemon zest. Add the milk and egg mixture to the flour mixture. Stir until just combined. Do not over mix this mixture or the muffins will be tough when baked. Fill each muffin cup almost full with the batter, using two spoons or an ice cream scoop. Fill any unused muffins cups with water to prevent the pan from warping.
For streusel topping: Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons butter and drizzle over the reserved 1 cup of streusel topping. Mix together with a fork until it is crumbly and looks like coarse meal. Sprinkle a couple of teaspoons of the streusel over the top of each muffin. Place in the oven and bake until very lightly browned and firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 18 - 20 minutes. Place on a wire rack to cool. Makes 14 - 16 regular-sized muffins.

Note: Frozen blueberries can be used instead of fresh. Do not thaw the berries before using them. Make sure you do not overmix the batter after you add the blueberries or the batter will turn blue.

Enjoy! More to come...