Classic blueberry muffins

Blueberry muffins are the best way to start a morning, especially after a long week of work experience! I worked at a hospital last week, and it was an amazing experience. But it had long hours, and I still can't comprehend how it's possible to
1. Wake up really early with barely any sleep.
2. Work for more than 10 hours.

I have even more admiration for surgeons, nurses etc who make a hospital work the way it does.

I'll be writing about my experience, because it was really interesting for me to see what a hospital environment is like.

Anyway, I've been a huge fan of those big, bakery style muffins. So huge and delicious, I could just gobble one up in no time. Quite frankly, my previous attempts at blueberry muffins were always mediocre. They weren't the blueberry muffins I had come to known, from a bakery. Soft, fluffy, jammed packed with bursting blueberries.  Now, that's my kind of blueberry muffin.
Jaclyn from Cooking Classy (her blog is amazing) created this blueberry muffin recipe, and even has the title "Finally, the blueberry muffin of my dreams" And that is the perfect description.

Soft like pillows, plentiful of bursting blueberries and a really nice crunchy top (my favourite part) and a lovely streusel. I've seen a lot of recipes where they use butter, but this one uses oil. I can tell you that the oil makes it very moist. I'm in love with the texture, and these are quite the breakfast or afternoon tea you can have.

I used frozen blueberries because blueberries aren't in season, and they're never cheap to buy. Just be careful when mixing in your blueberries, especially when it's frozen. You should do it at the very last minute because there will be blue marks everywhere and unless you want your muffin to look like a smurf, I highly suggest don't mix it in too early. Another important part is before adding the blueberries, do not over mix your batter! If you mix it too much, your muffin with be tough and leathery. That just sounds like the texture of crocodile meat. If you want soft, fluffy muffins the key is to NOT overmix!

What's your favourite type of muffin?

Blueberry muffins
Yields 14 muffins
Ingredients
1 and 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup buttermilk (substitute: just put some vinegar or lemon juice into regular milk and let it stand)
7 tbsp  oil (or 1/2 cup then remove 1 tbsp) - I used sunflower oil
1 large egg
2 tbsp sour cream or Greek yoghurt (I used yoghurt since I didn't have sour cream)
1 and 1/2 cup fresh blueberries (I reduced this to about 1 cup of frozen blueberries)

Crumb topping
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 and 1/2 tbsp sugar
2 and 1/2 tbsp chilled butter, diced
1 and 1/2 tbsp raw sugar -DON'T skip this part please! Jaclyn says that it is the 'crowning jewel', couldn't agree any better.
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Method:
1. Prepare crumb topping by mixing 1/3 cup flour, 1/2 tsp of cinnamon, 1 and 1/2 tbsp sugar, 2 and 1/2 tbsp butter in a food processor. Pulse until it is combined, it should be very fluffy. Then pour the mixture into a small bowl and whisk in the 1 and 1/2 tbsp raw sugar.
2. In a mixing bowl, sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and set aside. In a separate mixing bowl, using a whisk (not electric mixer), mix together 1 cup of sugar, buttermilk, oil, egg and sour cream or yoghurt for 1 minute. Gently whisk in dry mixture until combined, batter should be slightly lumpy. DO NOT OVER MIX! Fold in blueberries carefully (be extra careful if using frozen blueberries), and divide mixture evenly among 12-14 paper lined muffin tins. Allow muffins to rest at room temperature for about 10 minutes. Preheat oven to 400 F or 200 C.
3. After the muffins have rested, fluff crumb topping with a fork, and sprinkle each muffin evenly with 1 tbsp crumb topping mixture. Bake muffins for 19-23 minutes or until lightly golden and a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.
4. Allow to cool several minutes in the muffin pan before removing to wire rack to cool.

Adapted from Cooking Classy