Blueberry Muffin Tops. YUM!!

These blueberry muffins, just out of the oven and slathered with a dab of butter, are so yummy that my curls nearly curl with pleasure as I'm inhaling them! HA! So it's a good thing they're kind of a pain in the butt to make (but isn't any good treat?!), or I'd be whipping up a new batch every morning for breakfast!

You can make these with or without the crumb topping, but the contrast of textures is so lovely that I suggest going all out!

Note: I make mine in mini muffin pans (in a subconscious way of giving myself permission to eat more because they're so small!), but you can make them in a regular muffin-top pan, if you like your muffins big and beautiful. The best part about muffin tops is that they're mostly crunch and less "bread." Which is why I love them soooooooo!

Batter Ingredients:

3/4 stick (6 T) unsalted butter

1/3 c. milk

1 large egg

1 large yolk

3/4 t. vanilla

1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour

3/4 c. sugar

1 1/2 t. baking powder

3/4 t. salt

2 c. (12 oz) fresh or thawed frozen blueberries

Topping Ingredients:

3 T. cold, unsalted butter, cut into bits

1/2 c. all-purpose flour

3 1/2 T. sugar

Directions:

Batter

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees, placing oven rack in upper third of oven. 

2. Generously butter muffin pans.

3. Melt batter butter in small saucepan over low heat, then remove from heat. 

4. Whisk the milk into the butter, followed by the egg, yolk, and vanilla. Whisk until well combined.

5. Mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. 

6. Add the milk mixture to the dry mixture and stir JUST until combined.

7. Fold the blueberries in gently.

8. Evenly spread the batter between your muffin cups.

Topping

1. Combine the topping ingredients together in a bowl.

2. Rub the ingredients together with your fingertips until crumbly.

3. Sprinkle the mixture evenly over the batter.

Bake until golden and a toothpick inserted in the center of the muffin comes out clean. This cake take from 20 minutes on.

IF YOU HAVE THE PATIENCE (HA!), cool the muffins in their pan(s) on a rack for 15 minutes, then run a knife around the edge of each muffin and gently remove it from the pan. 

(But if you're like me, you won't have the patience to wait...at least until you've downed one or two or three of these tasty morsels!!!)

Enjoy! This recipe is courtesy of Epicurious.com.