My favorite muffin has always been blueberry. I have not met one yet that I did not like. Except maybe the mini ones in the snack section at the grocery. Blech! When I was little, my favorite boxed muffin mix had a little can of real wild blueberries in it. It never occurred to me that there was a better way to make my own muffins.

If I remember correctly, the original recipe for these was on the back of a Quaker oat box many years ago and was created to be low-fat. But after a few ingredient upgrades, it's a keeper. If you're using frozen, try to get wild Maine blueberries. They are the tiny ones and make for a more visually pleasing and less messy muffin. In my humble opinion. It only makes 10 muffins, so, of course, I always have to double it.

Blueberry Oat Muffins

1 1/4 c whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup sugar or Sucanat
1 tsp aluminum-free baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon (opt.)
1 large egg
1/2 cup filtered water
1/3 cup canola oil (or coconut oil, melted)

1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen, unthawed

Preheat oven to 400. Line muffin tins with paper liners. In a large bowl, stir together the first seven ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together egg, water, and oil. Stir egg/oil mixture into flour mixture, just until moistened. Gently, fold in blueberries. Using an ice-cream scoop, fill lined muffin tins 3/4 full. Bake 18-20 minutes or until just lightly golden. Cool on wire rack.


Linked to Tuesdays at the Table, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, Tasty Tuesday, Totally Tasty Tuesday, What's Cooking Wednesday, and Homemaking Link-Up.

Blueberry Almond Buckle

We absolutely love blueberries here! They get eaten by the handful and star in muffins, smoothies, pancakes, and waffles regularly. I took LJ, IB, and M2 blueberry picking yesterday. Well, M2 slept on my back in the Patapum carrier. The boys didn't last very long in the sweltering heat, but we did manage to pick about 2 1/2 quarts of sweet purple berries.

My plan was to make muffins, as usual, until the boys let me know that they were tired of muffins. So, when we got back home, I went for my King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking cookbook. I quickly decided on Blueberry Buckle. While I was gathering my ingredients from the pantry, I noticed a bag of sliced almonds and thought I would alter the recipe a bit. I also doubled the recipe but the following recipe is for the original 9X9 pan size. Just in case, you don't want a LOT of this super yummy, moist, flavorful, whole-grain coffee cake bursting with sweet blueberries and topped with buttery, crunchy, cinnamon-y streusel topping, use the recipe as is. If you double, you can use two 9X9 baking dishes or a 9X13 for a tall cake. That's what I did and it needed to bake for a few minutes longer, ending up with the bottom corners a tad bit overdone. Barely noticeable, though. If you would like a better presentation, use a round springform pan and slice into wedges. We're more into quantity and quality around here.

Blueberry Almond Buckle

Streusel
3/4 cups sugar
1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 cups rolled oats
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
6 Tbsp (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cups sliced almonds (opt)

Buckle
2 cups white whole wheat flour
1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
4 Tbsp (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 cups milk (I used almond milk)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract (opt., if not using, double vanilla)
2 cups blueberries, rinsed (fresh, or, if using frozen, do not rinse or thaw)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease and flour a 9" square pan.

Make the streusel: Whisk together sugar, flours, oats, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in a medium bowl. Cut in the butter to make medium-size crumbs. Toss in almonds, if using.

Make the buckle: Whisk together flours, baking powder and salt in medium bowl. Cream together the butter and sugar in large mixing bowl until light and fluffy, then add the eggs, one at a time, stopping to scrape the sides between additions. Stir in half the dry ingredients, then the milk and extracts, scraping down the sides. Stir in the remaining dry ingredients, then gently fold in the blueberries. Spread the batter in the prepared pan, and sprinkle the streusel evenly over the top.

Bake until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, about 45-50 minutes. Remove from the oven and let it cool, in the pan, on a rack.

Linked to Tuesdays at the Table and What's Cooking Wednesday.