Blueberry Muffins with Streusel

It's "Bacon Day" again and this week Edy and I decided to go with another classic favorite, the blueberry muffin.

I can't even begin to count how many batches of blueberry muffins I have made.  I have been making blueberry muffins, using the same recipe since I was about 10 years old.  I make slight modifications to it depending on my mood, but it is always basically the same.

This time Edy and I decided to add a little Streusel topping.  I am a big fan of Streusel.  Not only does it provide a wonderful sugary crunch on muffins, breads or pies, but it is a great "food" for kids to make. The youngest of kids can make it all by themselves and I love being able to give kids a project that they can take complete ownership of.

I also like giving kids tasks that allow them to get get their hands dirty and get to feel and "play" with the food.  It is great for sensory development, gives them a better understanding of what the food is and the buttery sugar snack they get at the end when licking their fingers is a bonus treat.

Blue Ribbon Blueberry Muffins with Streusel Topping
printer ready

Streusel Topping
3/4 cup Sugar
3/4 cup Flour
1 tsp. Cinnamon
1/4 cup Butter, at room temperature


Muffins
1 c. Sugar
¼ c. Butter
1 c. Milk
1 Egg
1 ⅓ c. Flour
2 tsp. Baking Powder
¾ tsp. Cinnamon
¾ tsp. Nutmeg
½ tsp. Vanilla
¼ tsp. Salt
1 c. Blueberries


Preheat oven 375
Streusel Topping: In small bowl toss sugar, flour and cinnamon together. Break butter into small chunks and work into sugar mixture until crumbly. Set aside. 

Muffins: Toss ⅓ cup flour with blueberries, set aside.  In small bowl whisk remaining flour, baking powder, cinnamon nutmeg and salt together.  In mixing bowl cream sugar and butter together until light and fluffy.  Add egg, mix until combined.  Add milk and vanilla, stir until combined then gradually add flour mixture, blending until just combined.  With rubber spatula gently stir in blueberries.  Fill lined muffin tins ¾ full.  Sprinkle Strusel topping over muffins. Bake 20-30 minutes.

Bacon Day

Tuesdays have recently become "bacon day" in our house. We don't sit around eating bacon all day as tasty at that might be.  What we do do, is bake a special treat.  Tuesdays are our quiet unplanned days, it is also the day that my youngest tells me she never gets to do anything fun and it isn't fair that she doesn't get to go to school everyday like her brother and sister.  To help make her feel better I told her that we would make Tuesdays our special baking day - or "bacon day" if you are 3 and have trouble making "-ing" sounds.

This week we went for a classic, everyone's favorite M&M cookies. 

Like most 3 year old kids scooping and dumping is tons of fun for Edy, so she was in charge of scooping the ingredients into the measuring cups, then pouring into the mixing bowl.  Edy's other main job was the placement of M&Ms.  She alternated between over loading the cookies to only putting one candy on, for fear there wouldn't be enough candies leftover for her to eat when we were done.   

As always, kids learn a ton just being in the kitchen, but if you are looking to get a little extra teaching in while baking, M&Ms are a wonderful teaching tool.  Some fun ways to use them are:

• Have the kids place the candies in a pattern
• Ask them to put 3 red, 2 green and 2 yellow then have them tell you how many candies are on the cookie
• Tell the kids each cookie needs 10 candies and they can only use 3 colors.  How many of each color is used?

 M&M Cookies (Printer Ready)

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup  granulated white sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 egg yolk
1 cup M&M's

Preheat oven to 350°
In large bowl whisk together flour, baking soda and salt, set aside. In large mixing bowl combine butter and sugar, mix until light and fluffy.  Add eggs and vanilla, beat until just incorporated.  Add flour mixture, again mixing until just incorporated.  

Using a medium sized cookie scoop place balls about 2 inches apart on ungreased parchment lined baking sheet.  Place M&Ms on top of cookie.  Bake for 8-10 or until light golden brown.

*Note M&M’s can be added to the batter after the flour has been mixed in, but I like to put the candies directly on the dough to ensure they stay at the top of the cookie.    

I hope to continue Tuesday Baking Day. It is a nice way to spend some extra special time with my baby Whatever day is your "bacon day" enjoy it with someone special.