The Holy Grail of Blueberry Muffins

Many years ago I somehow got the idea to google "To die for blueberry muffins" and came across this amazing recipe entitled "To Die For Blueberry Muffins." Funny how that works. I didn't want to dick around with all of the crappy blueberry muffin recipes - oh no no no.... Straight to the "to die for" ones for me! And I mean for god's sake...with a name like that they must be good, right? Right.

Turns out  they are. They are absolutely the best bakery-style blueberry muffin. Lots of loft, just the right amount of sweet. Light and airy but not too much so. Crispy, crunchy top. Bad for you, but "low fat" by Dunkin' Donuts standards. A definite winner.

Here in the great northeast, we're rounding out the end of blueberry season. Blueberries started ripening a bit early this year and the delicious blueberry plants that grow wild all over this area are more or less done producing. At the lake house where we spend a lot of our summer weekends, the grounds are covered in low-bush blueberries, as well as a few high-bush blueberry bushes that grow outside the windows. To top that off, there's an island in the middle of the lake called Blueberry Island that is virtually covered in blueberry bushes.

In the photo to the right, Ein and I are kayaking out to see if there are any blueberries ready to be picked (last year - the island is just to the left of his head, in the distance). This  year I didn't get the chance to go up the weekend the blueberries were ready, but Aj brought home a big Solo cup full of them. We munched on some, but there was still about half a cup left. Combined with almost 2 pints of blueberries I picked up at the local farm stand, I was looking for something to do with these tasty treats. Maine and NH blueberries are wonderful - a lot of times the wild ones are MUCH smaller than the kind you buy in the grocery store. Their flesh is firm and tart yet sweet. They aren't mushy at all like the over-ripe blueberries that often have to travel so far to reach Southern and Western states. They're a real ground-to-mouth pleasure.

So of course I remembered this recipe, which I made without hesitation and was once again impressed by the loft, texture and taste of these great muffins. I didn't use the streusel topping, but if you do make sure to use brown sugar instead of white and don't load it on or the muffins won't rise all the way. Though I haven't tried it, other commenters claim that the recipe is great with just about any kind of fruit substituted...so give it a shot and use what you have on hand! Even though this isn't my recipe, it's certainly one worth sharing.