Browned Butter Blueberry Muffins

It's here, it's finally here - blueberry season, what else?  So many blueberries, so little time.  First up, a recipe from the impossible to disappoint Joy the Baker.  I meant to try this one out last summer and never managed it.  And these need to be made with fresh berries.  These are easy, and so so good.  I don't know if it was the browned butter or the streusel topping but these are irresistible, and best fresh out of the oven.

I actually only had 1 cup berries left - so I tweaked the below recipe and made 8 muffins - and they are already all gone.  I left out the extra egg yolk (shhh!) and I also substituted the milk with half and half with a tidbit of water.  It's all good.  It's Saturday morning and we forgot to buy milk.

Browned Butter Blueberry Muffins
adapted from Joy the Baker

7 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/3 cup milk
1 large egg

1 large egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups fresh blueberries

Streusel Topping
3 Tablespoons cold, unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3 1/2 tablespoons sugar

Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat until little brown specks appear in the pan. Watch it closely - seriously.  The butter will be crackling and sizzling, but this will subside and the butter will begin to brown. Pour into a small bowl and set aside to cool slightly.

Combine milk, eggs and vanilla in a medium bowl. Once butter has cooled a bit, add it and stir.

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.  Add the milk and butter mixture all at once and continue to stir.  Gently fold in the blueberries.  Divide the batter among muffin cups. Batter will be quite thick.

For the streusel topping combine butter, flour, and sugar and crumble with your fingers. Sprinkle evenly over the batter in the cups.  Be generous. It's tasty.

Bake at 375 degrees for about 18-20 minutes (or 25 if you bake it at 350 because you didn't read the recipe properly).  

Enjoy warm, with hot coffee, the paper, and a little dog snuggling on your lap.