Lemon Blueberry Muffins with Poppy Seeds

Random thought of the day: Sometimes I wish I could wear vanilla extract as perfume. Is that weird? It's a little weird. But in all seriousness, if I ever find vanilla-scented perfume I will wear the crap out of that stuff.

To get back on track: blueberry muffins, AKA the breakfast food of my dreams. I wish I could find whoever first came up with the idea of putting blueberries in muffins and give them a nice, big, too-long hug.

This blueberry muffin recipe is quite simply the best I've ever tried. These are SO good, you guys. I don't really have words to describe them. All I can say is that Joy from Joy the Baker is a genius and everybody should go read her blog because it's awesome. Her cookbook is at the top of my Christmas list.

Lemon and blueberry, one of my favorite flavor combinations. The poppy seeds just add a whole new level of awesome.

Wet ingredients assembling. Good things are about to happen.

Browned butter in the batter makes everything better. (Alliteration!)

Mix all that goodness in there. 

 

The finished batter. My blueberries were frozen, and that's why you see those purple streaks. No harm done.

 And did I mention there's a crumb topping? Because there's a crumb topping and it takes these muffins from amazing to spectacular.

Lemon Blueberry Poppy Seed Muffins

from Joy the Baker

makes 12 muffins

Ingredients:

7 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/3 cup whole milk (I used 1% because it's what was in the fridge)

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoons salt

1 tablespoon lemon zest

1 tablespoon poppy seeds

1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries 

Topping:

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons granulated sugar

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Line muffin pan (or pans) with paper of foil liners and set aside,

2. Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. The butter will froth and crackle. When it becomes a medium brown color, remove from heat and pour into a small bowl so it doesn't keep cooking. Cool slightly.

3. In medium bowl, whisk together milk, egg, egg yolk, and vanilla. Add browned butter and whisk to combine.

4. Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a separate bowl. Add milk mixture to flour mixture and stir gently to combine. Gently fold in lemon zest, poppy seeds, and blueberries until evenly distributed. Divide batter among muffin cups.

5. For the crumb topping: Combine ingredients in a bowl and rub together with fingertips until crumbly. Sprinkle topping evenly over muffin batter in cups.

6. Bake muffins 18-20 minutes, until golden and skewer inserted in center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool in pan for 15 minutes, then remove to wire rack. You can serve them warm or at room temperature, but I like them best right out of the oven.

They will keep in an airtight container for 3 days. That is, if they last that long.