Lemon Sugar Crusted Blueberry Muffins

Total Time: 33 mins Preparation Time: 15 mins Cook Time: 18 mins

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup sugar
• zest from one lemon
• 2 cups frozen blueberries (or 2 cups fresh)
• 1 1/8 cups plus 1 teaspoon sugar
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• 4 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled slightly
• 1/4 cup oil (vegetable or canola)
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Recipe

• 1 for the topping, stir together sugar and lemon zest in a small bowl and set aside.
• 2 for the muffins, adjust an oven rack to the middle position and preheat oven to 375 degrees. spray a standard muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray. rinse one cup frozen berries under cold water and spread on a double layer of paper towels to dry well. bring remaining one cup berries and 1 teaspoon sugar to simmer in a small saucepan over medium heat. cook, mashing berries with a spoon several times and stirring frequently, until the berries have broken down and the mixture is thickened and reduced to about 1/3 cup, about 6-8 minutes. transfer to a small bowl and cool to room temperature, about 10 to 15 minutes.
• 3 whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl. toss the berries that have dried on the paper towels in with the flour mixture. whisk remaining 1 1/8 cups sugar and eggs together in a medium bowl until thick, about 45 seconds. slowly whisk in the butter and oil until combined. whisk in the buttermilk and vanilla until combined. using a rubber spatula, fold egg mixture into flour mixture until just moistened. the batter will be lumpy with a few dry spots of flour - don't overmix. this is the key to moist and tender muffins.
• 4 using ice cream scoop or large spoon, divide the batter equally among prepared muffin cups (batter should completely fill the cups). spoon a teaspoon of cooked berry mixture into the center of each mound of batter. using a skewer , gently swirl the berry filling into the batter using a figure eight motion. sprinkle lemon sugar evenly over the muffins.
• 5 bake until the top of the muffins are golden and just firm, 17-18 minutes. cool muffins in the muffin tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and cool 5 minutes before serving.