blueberry stud muffins

category: baked goods

I’m not the biggest fan of blueberries by themselves, but these blueberry stud muffins are scrumptious. Soft, spicy, and sweet with just a little something extra.

This is a blueberry muffin with a twist. Instead of just throwing in fresh blueberries, you boil the blueberries in a chamomile tea mixture, which can later be used as an iced tea. And rather than just having a boring muffin top, these are topped with a brown sugar and cinnamon crumbly streusel. A great afternoon treat.

Serves 12 muffins

Ingredients

Blueberry syrup

• 1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries
• 1 litre water
• 2 Twinings chamomile, honey and vanilla teabags
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 tbsp caster sugar

Muffin mix

• 12 muffin wrappers/patty pans
• 1/2 cup butter (salted or unsalted is fine)
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla paste
• 2 tsps baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 cups white flour
• 1/2 cup milk

Steusel

• 1/2 cup white flour
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3 tbsp butter

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius and grease the muffin wrappers/patty pans with butter or oil.
2. Brew the chamomile tea in a medium sized saucepan on high heat until boiling and until you have a lovely strong flavour
3. Add the blueberries, vinegar, and caster sugar to the tea, reduce heat to low and simmer for 5-7 minutes. Then remove to cool slightly.
4. Cream the sugar and butter together until you have a pale yellow mixture.
5. Add the eggs, vanilla and milk to the butter and cream, and mix to combine.
6. Sift in the flour and baking powder to the mixture and mix to combine. You want to continue mixing until you don’t have any visible flour and everything looks well combined.
7. Drain the blueberries from the liquid and mix the berries through the muffin mixture. You can add a little bit of the liquid if the mixture is too thick. You can set the liquid aside and enjoy as an iced tea.
8. To make the streusel, combine the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt in a bowl, and then rub in the butter until the mixture resembles sand.
9. Fill the muffin wrappers/patty pans with the muffin mixture until the 3/4 full. Remember the muffins will rise, so don’t overfill.
10. Sprinkle the streusel on the top of each muffin. Add as much or as little as you like.
11. Put the muffins in the oven and bake for 30-40 minutes. Using a clean skewer or a knife to check that they’re cooked, the muffins are cooked all the way through when you take the skewer or knife out and it is still clean.
12. Let the muffins rest for a little while after taking them out of the oven. But they can be enjoyed straight away or they can be stored for 5 days in an airtight container.

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