Lemon Blueberry Oat Muffins

I didn’t think that this blog post was going to happen today. I spent most of the day yesterday dealing with the immense amount of rain that has fallen… The creek behind our house flash flooded and then we started getting water in our basement because the ground is so saturated. Needless to say, writing a blog post was at the bottom of my list of priorities.

A few hours later, though, I am up at 5am with nothing to do but sit and hope that the water level in our basement will start to drop soon. We were up most of the night trying to get a small pump working in our basement since our sump pump failed… And, around 4:30pm, we just decided that there was no point in trying to go back to bed since neither of us have really slept. So, both the hubby and I are camped out on the couch with our laptops, getting some work done. It beats sitting here and worrying about the fact that the water may ruin the brand new furnace we had installed just last week (not even 7 days ago!).

Enough about the water, though… Let’s talk about muffins. If I had been thinking last evening when I was sitting around the house fretting about the water, I would have mixed up a batch of these blueberry muffins. They remind me of the muffins that I usually pick up at a coffee shop when I am running errands or traveling. The muffins have a fresh lemony flavor with a nice tender crumb. And, the oat streussel topping adds just a bit of a sweet crunch (and certainly helps with the coffee shop appeal). But, they are also relatively healthy and full of whole grains. These muffins are a win-win.

Unfortunately, I made these muffins last week, and there are none left. Believe me, I could really use a freshly baked muffin right now. And, delivering a few of these muffins to the sweet neighbors who let us borrow their portable sump pump wouldn’t be a bad idea, either.

Lemon Blueberry Oat Muffins
(Makes 12 standard sized muffins)

For the batter:

• 1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
• 1 cup rolled oats, pulsed in the food processor
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 6 ounces lemon flavored Greek yogurt
  (plain would be fine, too)
• 2 tablespoons milk
• Zest from 1 lemon
• 1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries
  (or frozen blueberries, thawed and drained)

For the streussel:

• 1 cup rolled oats
• 2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup raw sugar

For the lemon glaze (optional):

• Juice from 1 lemon
• 1/2 – 1 cup powdered sugar

Preheat the oven to 400°F.  Line a standard-sized muffin tin with paper liners and set aside.

Whisk together the whole wheat flour, ground oats, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, and set aside.  In a large mixing bowl, cream together the softened butter and sugar. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the vanilla, yogurt, and milk. Alternately, add the dry ingredients and the yogurt mixture to the creamed mixture, starting and ending with the dry ingredients. Stir gently just until all of the dry ingredients are moistened.  Fold in the lemon zest and the blueberries.

To make the streussel, pulse the rolled oats, butter, and raw sugar in a small food processor until the butter is evenly dispersed in the mixture.

Fill each muffin cup with approximately 1/4 cup of batter and one large tablespoon of the streussel topping.  Bake the muffins for 24 – 26 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Allow the muffins to cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

If desired, whisk together the lemon juice and powdered sugar to make a quick lemon glaze, and drizzle the glaze over the cooled muffins.