topanga canyon brunch....blueberry muffins

having been born and raised in maine, I have a love hate relationship with blueberries. one can't be from maine and not love blueberries. as a child my favorite book was the 1948 classic blueberries for sal and one morning in maine. so every time i see a recipe with blueberries i'm secretly drawn to find that perfect blueberry recipe that too becomes my literary classic. after mulling over this next recipe for about a month, i was finally inspired by a brunch invite to my dear friend's new topanga canyon treehouse. my preference is always a streusel topping for my baked goods and I was certain that a lemon sugar topping would fail to deliver satisfying results.... i was wrong. i LOVED the lemony-sugar, crunchy coating! 

"cook's illustrated" may/june 2009 - recipe source

lemon sugar topping:

stir together sugar and lemon zest and set aside.

• 1/3 cup (2 1/3 ounces) sugar

• 1 1/2 tsp finely grated lemon zest

streusel topping:

stir together next four ingredients and drizzle 5 tbsp of warm melted unsalted butter and toss with fork.

• 3 tbsp granulated sugar

• 3 tbsp brown sugar

• pinch table salt

• 1/2 cup plus 3 tbsp flour

muffins:

• 2 cups (about 10 ounces) fresh blueberries

• 1 1/8 cups (8 ounces) plus 1 tsp

• 2 1/2 cups (12 1/2 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour

• 2 1/2 tsp baking powder

• 1 tsp table salt

• 2 large eggs

• 4 tbsp (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly

• 1/4 cup vegetable oil

• 1 cup buttermilk

• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

directions for the muffins:

1. adjust the over rack to upper middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees. spray standard muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray.

bring one cup of blueberries and 1 tsp of sugar to simmer in small saucepan over medium heat. cook, mashing berries with spoon several times and stirring frequently, until berries have broken down and mixture has thickened and reduces to 1/4 cup. transfer to small bowl and cool to room temperature, 10-15 minutes.

2. whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in large bowl. whisk remaining 1 1/8 cups of sugar and eggs together in medium bowl until thick and homogeneous, about 45 secs. slowly whisk in butter and oil until combined. whisk in buttermilk and vanilla until combined. using rubber spatula, fold egg mixture and remaining 1 cup blueberries into flour mixture until just moistened. (batter will be very lumpy with few spots of dry flour, do not over mix.

3, using an ice cream scoop divide batter equally into 9 large muffin holders, batter should completely fill cups and mound slightly. Spoon tsp of cooked berry mixture into center of each mound of batter. Using chopstick or skewer, gently swirl berry filling into batter using a figure-eight motion. Sprinkle lemon sugar or streusel topping over the top. 

4. bake until muffin tops are golden and just firm, 17-19 minutes. Cool muffins in tin for 5 minutes and finish cooling