Old Fashioned Blueberry Muffins

Submitted by: SUSAN MANLIN KATZMAN, food and travel writer at Sweet Leisure and author of “Kids Who Cook.”

My Food Story:

This old-fashioned blueberry muffin recipe comes from my husband's grandmother, Esther Milder, who would be 131 if alive today. In blueberry season, Esther would make the muffins for breakfast as well as family picnics and everyone adored them. Esther was known as a fabulous cook and I think the muffins helped establish her reputation--although everything she made was luscious. Esther gave me the recipe when I married Marshall, and as as a young wife, I would make a batch to take to parties as a hostess gift, figuring the exhausted party givers would like a treat for the morning-after-the-party breakfast. It was one of the first recipes I printed in my syndicated column and so easy that that I put it in my first book, For Kids Who Cook. Many years later, the muffins still had first-place status in my heart and was one of the first recipes I showcased on my blog, www.sweetleisure.com. These muffins receive nothing but compliments, but a bit of warning: they are addictive and although they contain blueberries, they can never be classed as health food.

OLD FASHIONED BLUEBERRY MUFFINS

Makes 24 servings

Ingredients 

• Shortening to grease muffin cups

• 3 cups all purpose flour

• 2 cups granulated sugar

• 1 tablespoon baking powder

• 1/2 cup butter

• 2 eggs

• 1 cup evaporated milk, undiluted

• 1 teaspoon vanilla

• 1-3/4 cups blueberries

• 2 tablespoons butter, to make crumbs for topping
  

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 24 muffin cups and set aside.

Mix flour, sugar and baking powder in a large bowl. Cut in 1/2 cup butter with a pastry blender or two knives used scissor fashion (or use your fingers to squish the flour and butter into crumbs). Put one cup of crumb mixture in a small bowl and set aside.

To mixture in large bowl, add eggs, milk and vanilla and beat until smooth. Gently fold blueberries into batter. Spoon batter into muffin cups.

Melt 2 tablespoons butter and dribble over flour mixture in small bowl. Toss with a fork to make crumbs. Sprinkle crumbs on top of batter in muffin cups, dividing crumbs equally. Bake until muffins are light golden brown on top, 20 to 30 minutes.

Cool muffins before removing from pan.