Lemon Poppy Seed Blueberry Muffins

  

Nothing says "Good Morning Friend!" like a fresh batch of blueberry muffins. And these are not your average blueberry muffins. These are lemon poppy seed blueberry muffins. Woah. We're takin it to the next level here.

These muffins are comforting and warm, like a hug from your mother. 

They even have a crumb topping. As if it couldn't get any better...it did!

These are so moist and heavenly and have such a beautiful flavor. They're perfect for a morning pick-me-up. They are wonderful served warm with a glass of milk, which is how I enjoyed mine this morning, and that was when I knew that it was going to be a good day.

Lemon Poppy Seed Blueberry Muffins

from: Joy the Baker 

Ingredients:

 For the Muffins:
7 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/3 cup whole milk
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 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1 tablespoon poppy seeds
1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries

For the Topping:
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons granulated sugar

Directions:

Place a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Line a muffins pan with paper or foil liners, set aside.

To make the muffins:  Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat.  Keep an eye on the butter.  It will melt, froth, and begin to crackle.  That’s the water cooking out of the butter.  The crackling will subside and butter will begin to brown fairly quickly.  Remove from heat when butter solids become a medium brown color and butter smells slightly nutty.  Immediately pour hot butter into a small bowl, or the butter will continue to cook in the hot pan.  Allow to cool slightly.

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

Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl.  Add milk mixture all at once to the flour mixture and stir gently to combine.  Gently but thoroughly fold in the lemon zest, poppy seeds, and blueberries. 

 The batter was a little thick for usual muffins...but these suckers are anything but usual! They bake up like mini cakes.

Divide batter among prepared muffin cups.
To make the topping: Combine all ingredients in a bowl and rub together with clean fingertips until crumbly.  Sprinkle topping evenly over the muffin batter in cups.

Bake muffins 18 to 20 minutes until golden and crisp and a skewer inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.  Cool muffins in the pan for 15 minutes before removing.  Serve warm or at room temperature.

Muffins will last, at room temperature in an airtight container, for up to 3 days.  

 There was about a 2 second time frame between these two pictures. There must be a hungry mouse in the kitchen....or just a hungry big sister :)

I hope you will whip up these muffins and turn an average morning into something special. Trust me, it will make things a little brighter :)