Streusel Topped Blueberry Muffins

I have had this recipe tucked away for a while waiting for blueberries to come in season.  While I was in Mornington the local supermarket had blueberry punnets on sale for $2.95 which is a bargin compared to Alice Springs prices, so I grabbed them.

I have been a bit obsessed with cup cakes and icing because I think they look gorgeous and photograph really well. They have that wow factor. 

I long to really explore this baking passion I have and would like to turn a "hobby business" into something more, and it can't just be about cup cakes. They are very popular at the moment but I want to be able to do a number of things well and keep up with trends and not just put all my eggs in one basket, pardon the baking pun.

So, with this in mind I have been sourcing different recipes that can be sold individually or in small quanities, and not necessarily be a cup cake.  This also fits the "not everything has to be iced" theory I have, to cater to different tastes.  Different varieties of muffins and mini loaf cakes fit this bill.

Hence, the Streusel Topped Blueberry Muffin. This also appealled to me because I am a HUGE fan of crumble anything. Apple crumble, apricot crumble, apple and banana crumble. You get the picture. It is great comfort food.

I loved this recipe which was sourced from Allrecipes.com. It had a couple of twists on the normal blueberry muffin recipes. For starters, the crumble topping. As most of you probably know, crumble topping requires rubbing together ingredients with your bare hands. I love getting my hands dirty in the kitchen and when I was away from my kitchen and baking constantly, it was nice to reconnect with it in such a pure way in my mother in laws kitchen.

Also, I learn't a new trick which I will share with you in case it is news to you too. If you put the blueberries in a bowl and sprinkle a couple of tablespoons of plain flour over it and mix carefully, this will coat your blueberries and stop the who batter turning "purple". So simple, yet so good.

Another bonus was this recipe calls for lemon zest which gave me an opportunity to use a brand new toy I got for christmas, a lemon zester grater. Not just any lemon zester but a Microplane Grater. These are the best graters invented. They are so sharp and the zest falls out the back rather than just sticks in the grater and you find yourself trying to prize it off with a knife. They aren't cheap but they are a time saver and worth their weight in gold.

The muffins turned out so light, soft and fresh. They did not last long. The photos don't really do them justice but I had limited time to do the photography before they were gobbled up by my extended family and friends.