The softest, fluffiest muffins filled with zesty lemon, tangy blueberries and topped with a crunchy sweet streusel topping.

One of my favourite things about this time of the year is how you can just mix recipes up. One day you can be making some lovely blueberry muffins, and the next day an apple crumble.

Muffins are one of my favourite things to bake (and eat to be honest). And the only thing that is better than a normal muffin is one topped with a sweet and crunchy streusel top. These lemon and blueberry streusel muffins are super soft, fluffy and bouncy and the streusel on top is just…. well, the cherry on the cake!

About the streusel

I love a streusel top, plain muffins are great and I love them, but streusel just upgrades them to the next level. It’s also incredibly easy to make, all you need brown and granulated sugar, flour and cold butter. One thing that I like to do with it is putting in the fridge until I have to use it, that way it keeps the butter from melting and it helps it have that delicious crunchy texture.

So, what’s in this muffins?

These are super easy to make and require really basic ingredients, this is all you’ll need:

• Vegetable oil (I like to use sunflower)
• Whole milk
• Granulated sugar and brown sugar
• Greek yoghurt
• Eggs
• Lemon
• Blueberries
• Vanilla extract
• Flour
• Baking powder

A few tips for success

Muffins are fairly easy to do, but these are some tips to get that bakery/profesional look on your muffins. Now, none of the tips I’m about to give you are mandatory and they won’t determine your success, you’ll get some lovely muffins either way, however, these are perfect if you want to get your muffins from average to perfection:

1. Cool your batter. I put my batter in the fridge for 30 minutes to an hour, this creates air bubbles which makes them fluffier, it also helps with moisture, tenderness and makes them taller. After you’ve chill them you’ll notice a big change in the batter from before chilling to after chilling.
2. Do not fill up every hole in your muffin tray. I like to leave one empty hole next to each muffin, so if I use my 12 muffin case, I only cook 6 muffins at a time filling up every other hole. The reason behind this is that, by not having one muffin next to each other, muffins are allowed to grown more and expand in the tray.
3. Cook your muffins in the oven at 200 degrees celsius for 5 minutes and then 180 for 10-15 minutes. Those first 5 minutes will make them get tall and give them that dome shape that bakery muffins have.

Lemon & Blueberry Muffins

Ingredients (makes 12 – 14 muffins):

• 120 ml of vegetable oil (not olive oil as it’s overpowering)
• 200 gr of sugar + a bit more for sprinkling
• 120 ml of warm milk
• 2 eggs
• 1 tbsp of vanilla extract
• 155 gr of greek yoghurt
• 1 and 1/2 tsp of baking powder
• 260 gr of flour
• A pinch of salt
• The zest of one lemon
• 1 tsp of lemon juice
• 100 gr of blueberries

For the streusel:

• 90 gr of cold butter
• 4 tablespoon brown sugar
• 4 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 80 grams flour
• A pinch salt

Method:

1. In a bowl, mix the oil and sugar beating until combined. Then add the milk and mix again.
2. Add the eggs and whisk them until combined, add the vanilla extract and mix again. Fold in the greek yoghurt.
3. Add the lemon zest and lemon juice and mix once again.
4. Fold in the flour, salt and baking powder and mix until just combined. Gently fold in the blueberries.
5. Refrigerate the batter for 30 minutes to an hour (you can skip this step, but your muffins will be less moist and tall).
6. While the muffins refrigerate, make the streusel by mixing all ingredients in a bowl with a fork or your hands to mixture until crumbly and clumping together. I like. to keep my streusel in the fridge while the batter cools down so the butter stays hard.
7. Take the batter out of the fridge and scoop it into prepared muffin cases, filling about 3/4 of the way. Sprinkle the streusel mix on top and cook in a preheated oven at 200 degrees for 5 minutes and then turn the heat down to 180 and keep cooking for 10 to 15 minutes.