Lemon Blueberry Coffee Cake Muffins

Can you tell that I've been having a lemon moment lately? Tart sweet lemons, their juice, and their zest are a few of my staple ingredients all year round. But at this time of year I love cooking with lemon more than ever-- that bright fresh flavor just screams "springtime!" even when our weather does not. I've used them in a Bundt cake, in pasta, and even on a pizza.

Lemon pairs well with tons of other flavors, but I have always really loved how it's tartness works against the flavor of sweet berries. So when Alex requested that I bake up a batch of blueberry muffins recently, I decided to give my standard recipe a little lemon makeover. The results are sweet, tart, and delicious!

My standby blueberry muffin came from -- where else? -- my mom. And I think hers came for an issue of Southern Living from way back when. Since then it's been one of our staple family recipes: cakey muffins, tart berries, and a sweet and buttery crumb topping. I decided to transform the recipe into something a little more decadent and turned the muffins into mini versions of a rich sour cream coffee cake. The blueberries and lemon add great freshness and make these muffins feel almost "healthy." And that crumbly topping should be on top of any and every coffee cake as far as I'm concerned.

These muffins are seriously delicious-- perfect for breakfast, brunch, snacking, dessert... Perfect anytime, I suppose! And these would make a great treat to bake and bring to a hostess or new mom too.



Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup butter, at room temperature
• 1 egg, beaten
• Zest of 1 lemon
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 2 1/2 cups + 1/2 Tbs. all purpose flour, divided
• 4 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup milk
• 3/4 cup sour cream
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Crumb topping:

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup old fashioned oats
• 3 Tbs. all purpose flour
• 1/4 cup butter

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a large bowl, cream sugar and butter until well combined. Add egg, lemon zest, and juice and mix well.

In a separate bowl, combine 2 1/2 cups flour, baking powder, and salt. Add it to the butter mixture in smaller portions, alternately with the milk and sour cream, making sure each ingredient is fully incorporated before adding the next. Stir in the vanilla extract.

In a small bowl, toss the remaining1/2 Tbs. flour with the blueberries until all the berries are well coated. Fold them into the batter and drop into paper-lined muffin cups, filling about 2/3 of the way full.

In a small bowl, stir together sugar, oats, and flour. Cut the butter into the dry mixutre until it becomes crumbly. Sprinkle over the top of the muffins and bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.