Brown Butter Blueberry Muffins

Like many college students, I subsisted on a specific set of food items due to inadequate kitchen access, a mandatory meal plan, and busy lifestyle. One of my student center food court indulgences was a large blueberry muffin and cafe mocha from the coffee stand, often on the way to or from morning classes. The muffins were tender but stretchy, with a beautiful crown and crunchy edges. Slathered with a pat of salted butter, they were the epitome of breakfast.

And when they showed up in the day-old discount rack next to the register, wrapped in plastic wrap, I did a (mental) happy dance and whisked away as many as were available and that I could carry back to my dorm room. Fifteen seconds in the microwave and they were as good as new!

I've tried many a blueberry muffin recipe in the years past, and although many were delicious, none had that rich buttery flavor or soft stretchiness to the crumb as the legendary muffins from college. I attributed those qualities to mass manufacturing and industry secret ingredients and settled for the tasty-but-not-the-same quality in homemade recipes.

Until this recipe!

The flashback came out of nowhere; these muffins didn't resemble the college muffins in shape or size and even had the added crumb topping. I didn't try this recipe because I thought it would be the One. But one bite, with a bit of butter spread on top, took me straight back. So moist, tender, with a rich buttery flavor and juicy berries. 

This very well may be the only blueberry muffin recipe I'll ever need!

Brown Butter Blueberry Muffins (adapted from the Joy the Baker Cookbook)

Ingredients:

7 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/3 cup milk

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 & 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup sugar

1 & 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

2 cups fresh or thawed-and-drained frozen blueberries

For the crumb topping:

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold and diced

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons sugar

Instructions:

Make sure your oven rack is in the upper third of the oven; preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease or line a standard muffin tin and set aside.

To make the brown butter, melt 7 tablespoons of butter in a small/medium skillet/saucepan in which you can see the color of the butter clearly (stainless steel pan is good for this). Keep the heat at medium/medium-high, stir continuously with a heat-proof silicone spatula, and DO NOT LEAVE THE PAN. After the butter melts, it starts to bubble with loud crackles. Keep stirring, and after the water from the butter all evaporates (it could take upwards of 5 minutes or so), a certain tipping point, the color will turn amber, then deep golden brown, and brown precipitate will accumulate at the bottom of the pan. At that point, remove the pan from heat immediately and pour into a secondary container to cool.

In a bowl, whisk the milk, egg, egg yolk, and vanilla together to combine. Add the cooled brown butter, bits and all and whisk to incorporate.

In another larger bowl, sift together the 1 & 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add the butter mixture to the bowl and fold gently with a rubber spatula to combine. When there are still some flour streaks, add the blueberries and continue folding, mixing just enough to evenly distribute the blueberries. 

Spoon/scoop batter evenly amongst the muffin cups. There won't be a whole lot of batter in each cup because you need space for the crumb topping.

To make the crumb topping, combine the 3 tablespoons cold butter, 1/2 cup flour, and 3 tablespoons sugar in a bowl and rub everything together quickly with your fingertips until crumbly and the butter bits are no larger than peas. Sprinkle the crumb topping evenly over all the muffins. I found I only needed half the crumb mix to evenly coat the muffins, but if you like more streusel than I put, you may use it all. Any leftovers can be frozen for future use.

Bake muffins at 375 degrees for 18-20 minutes, or until a wooden skewer comes out clean when inserted. Cool in pan for 15 minutes, then cool on a wire rack. After completely cooled, you can keep in an airtight container for up to 3 days at room temperature, or freeze in an airtight container and reheat/toast before eating.

Serve with butter and coffee!