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As I have shared before, I am not a big breakfast person. Give me a couple cups of black, dark-roast, French Press coffee and I am a pretty content guy in the morning. That said, I do sometimes like a little something sweet to nibble on with my second cup or so. It makes the coffee taste better and does my stomach a favor by having something else in it.

I try and keep Trader Joe’s frozen almond or dark chocolate croissants in the freezer as they are pretty decent, but occasionally I have a blueberry muffin recipe that I like to make the night before or at 3:00 AM when I have one of ‘those’ mornings. I came across the a long time ago that was originally developed by one of Martha Stewart’s catering chefs. It blends a little bit of cornmeal into the flour to add some texture, is filled with blueberries, and I take it over the top by adding a brown butter, pecan & cinnamon streusel crunch just before baking.

They are a wonderful blend of textures and flavors that will spoil you for any other blueberry muffin in the future.

They take just a little extra time, but I think you’ll thank yourself for the effort. You also can just bake them in a 9” square pan. I hope you all enjoy!

Blueberry and Pecan Brown Butter Streusel Muffins

Makes 4 large or 6 medium muffins

Ingredients

• 1 cup All purpose flour
• 3 TBS Cornmeal
• 1 tsp Baking powder
• ½ tsp Salt
• ¼ pound Butter, softened
• 1 cup Sugar
• 2 each Eggs
• 1/3 cup Milk
• 1-1/2 tsp Vanilla extract
• ½ tsp Lemon zest
• 2 cups Fresh Blueberries (frozen can be substituted)
• ½ cup Pecan brown butter streusel (recipe follows)

Procedure

STEP 1

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray pan or inside of muffin liners with non-stick food spray. Whisk together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt until well combined. Separately whip the softened butter and sugar until well creamed and smooth.

STEP 2

Add eggs, milk, vanilla and lemon zest and continue beating until smooth. Pour the mixture into the flour mix and, using a wooden spoon, stir until flour is just incorporated. Carefully fold in the blueberries. Fresh are best but you can sub frozen it will just result in a slightly wetter, denser muffin.

STEP 3

Fill muffin cups about ¾ full as they will rise quite a bit during baking. The batter will be quite thick. Sprinkle the top of each liberally with the streusel topping and bake for 40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

STEP 4

Allow to cool 15-20 minutes.

Pecan and Brown Butter Streusel

Ingredients

• 4 TBS Butter, cut into 4 pieces
• 1 cup Sugar
• ½ cup Flour
• 1-1/2 TBS Cinnamon (Vietnamese is the best)
• 1-1/2 Cups Chopped pecan pieces

Procedure

STEP 1

Place butter in small pan and heat over medium heat swirling pan frequently until the butter becomes a golden brown color and fragrant. Pour butter into bowl and allow to cool for 10 minutes.

STEP 2

Add all remaining ingredients and mix together with wooden spoon until everything is well mixed and the butter all absorbed. It will be chunky. Refrigerate until needed. Can also be frozen.