Blueberry Crumble Muffins & DIY Muffin Liners

This recipe is a must at least once a summer with fresh blueberries. At LEAST. Most likely more than once. You'll totally understand when you try it. I know. I know. It's technically Fall now but this is my end of the season, last hurrah for blueberries before they cost a million dollars a pint. Maybe that's a slight exaggeration. We'll go with half a million dollars.

The recipe originated from a blueberry buckle (kind of like a cake) from my grandma. I've already made the buckle form this summer so it was time to switch it up into muffin form! These muffins are the perfect way to make this recipe seem like breakfast material. Oh, don't get me wrong...I would definitely eat it for breakfast in buckle form too but muffins just seem more socially acceptable.

Muffins are great because they are easy to share and serve. They can also be a grab and go food but that would just be wrong with these muffins. Spend some time enjoying them. Seriously.

Notice my fancy muffin liners?? You know that part of the recipe where you're supposed to use a muffin or cupcake liner and you realize you completely forgot to buy them? That only happens to me about every time I make a muffin or cupcake. Literally. Every time. It's like my brain doesn't register the fact that I need them. Weird. So I make my own!

It's a seriously simple solution to your muffin liner woes. All you need is some parchment paper and a pair of scissors. Just cut your parchment into squares that are about 5 inches by 5 inches. This is not a science. Measure if you must but really just make sure they are a couple inches bigger than the diameter of the muffin tin cup. Press the parchment paper in each muffin tin cup, folding to press in. This for sure takes some finagling. You can use a can or cup that fits in the muffin tin cup to push the paper down into the bottom. I, however, usually take the more rustic approach of pressing and then frantically filling the liner with batter to hold it down. You can either choose the more refined method or my method. Either way, you end up with a DIY muffin liner! It adds a bit of charm to your cupcakes or muffins and it's super cheap too. Yay!

BLUEBERRY CRUMBLE MUFFINS
prep time: 10 minutes, cook time: 30 minutes
makes: 12 muffins

INGREDIENTS
For the muffins:

• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups blueberries

For the crumble topping:

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup flour
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 cup soft butter

DIRECTIONS

For the muffins:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Cream 3/4 cup sugar, 1/2 cup butter, and egg with mixer. Stir in milk.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk or sift together 2 cups flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir into wet ingredients until just combined.
4. Gently stir in blueberries. 
5. Divide batter into lined muffin tin (12 muffins). The muffins will come almost to the top of the liners.

For the crumble topping:

1. Mix together all the crumble ingredients until the butter is distributed into pea size pieces throughout. 
2. Top each muffin with crumble topping. 
3. Bake muffins for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

NOTES

This originated as a blueberry buckle. Also AMAZING! To make this follow the same recipe, spreading the batter into a greased and floured 9 inch square pan. Top with the crumble topping and bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 45-50 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Delicious with fresh blueberries but you can use frozen blueberries that are completely drained of any liquid as well.