Best Blueberry Muffins of John's Life*

We have probably eaten a new variety of blueberry muffins each month for a long time, as I've been on the search for the quintessential recipe. Last night John labeled these muffins "the best blueberry muffins of his life."

Streusel Topped Blueberry Muffins
(from www.allrecipes.com)

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries
• 1/2 cup butter
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon lemon zest
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 5 tablespoons white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons butter, diced

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease 12 muffin cups or line with paper muffin liners.
2. Combine 2 cups flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in medium bowl. In a small bowl, sprinkle 1 to 2 tablespoons flour over blueberries, and set aside. (This simple trick will keep you from having "purple" batter)
3. In a large bowl, beat 1/2 cup butter with 3/4 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, and stir in vanilla and lemon zest. Fold in dry ingredients alternately with milk. Fold in blueberries. Remember, fold gently, don't stir. Spoon batter into prepared cups.
4. Combine 2 tablespoons flour, 5 tablespoons sugar ,and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon in a small bowl. Cut in 2 tablespoons butter with fork or pastry blender until mixture resembles course crumbs. Sprinkle over batter in muffin cups.
5. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire rack. These muffins freeze really well, and re-heat in the microwave successfully. Hope you enjoy!!

Changes:

1) In my quest for this recipe, another recipe had recommended using Mott's Blueberry Applesauce (in place of the oil or butter) to give it an extra blueberry taste. While the batter was a wee bit purple, the baked muffins looked very normal.
2) Per reviews on the website, used 2 cups of (frozen) blueberries.
3) Used the lemon zest of an entire lemon instead of 1/4 tsp. This was very nice but may be too much if I hadn't used the blueberry applesauce.

*As soon as John found out I'd replaced the butter, he decided that these couldn't be the best after all. He figures everything must be better with butter. Why can't he just be content to say, "I can't believe it's not butter!