Blueberry Bran Muffins with Streusel Topping

Good morning sunshine! That’s what Monday morning said to me as I prepared a “Welcome” batch of muffins for a new co-worker. Having just come home from an early morning run, I was on a roll. Run, walk the dog, bake, get ready for work….I know, over-achiever. But it feels good to be productive, especially when Monday mornings tend to be dull at best and foreboding at worst. Whenever I get back from a run, I’ve either got crispy vegetables or healthy grains on my mind depending on the time of day. At 6 am I was definitely thinking grains.

Blueberry muffins are my favorite and bran muffins are a close second. I used to hate blueberries (a sore admission on my part), but I would eat a blueberry muffin in a heart beat. Blueberries are just starting to come around as a regular grocery item, so I had a few containers on hand. I had already planned to make muffins for the occasion and had picked out a recipe after an extensive online search. As I reached for the flour, what did I see? Flax, bran and nuts, oh my! Of course I wasn’t just going to follow a recipe, duh. I wanted some chew to my muffins and a sweet crunch on top. So I laced these babies with bran and used coconut oil for that magic je ne sais quoi.

The crunch was the important part. I have not had much success with typical streusel toppings consisting of just flour and sugar – they tend to get clumpy and not crunchy. Oat-based toppings are better, but my favorite features nuts. The kind of nut hardly matters, just mix it with sugar and I’m good. In this case I couldn’t decide between walnuts and pecans so I used both with fabulous results. It must have been this special edge that sparked the comment, “You’ve outdone yourself.” Gracias.

These muffins were incredibly moist and, as such, need much care when removed from the pan. Even with a generous amount of cooking spray, they need a good knife-around-the-edge careful lifting TLC. They fall apart easily, but it works out if you’d like to spread a dab of Earth balance in the middle. Delicious, moist, crunchy, semi-sweet and perfect for a healthy indulgence.

Blueberry Bran Muffins with Streusel Topping
Makes 12 medium muffins
Prep time: 5 minute
Cook time: 25 minutes

Ingredients

1 ¼ c. Whole-wheat pastry flour
¼ c. Oat bran
¼ c. Wheat bran
¼ c. Flaxseed meal
1 tsp. Baking powder
1 tsp. Baking soda
½ tsp. Salt

¾ c. Almond milk
2/3 c. Sugar
¼ c. Applesauce
¼ c. Coconut oil
2 tsp. Vanilla
1 c. Blueberries, fresh or frozen

¼ c. Pecan/Walnut mix, coarsely ground
2 T. Sugar
½ tsp. Cinnamon

Directions

Preheat oven to 400ºF. Coat a muffin pan with cooking spray and set aside.

Mix dry ingredients together in a medium mixing bowl. Blend wet ingredients together in a separate bowl and slowly add to dry. Stir mixture until no clumps are left. Add another 1-2 tablespoons of flour is mixture is too wet.

Mix nuts, sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Pour batter into muffin pan and top each muffin evenly with streusel topping. Bake for 25 minutes or until inserting a toothpick in the center comes out clean.