Sunday Servings: Streusel Topped Blueberry Muffins

There is no doubt I am an amateur baker and sometimes I make rookie mistakes.

When I found the recipe for these streusel topped blueberry muffins, I took the author at her word, "yield one dozen" and "grease 12 muffin cups." But clearly, what the author meant was twelve large muffin cups and not twelve standard sized muffins cups as evidenced by the selected photos.

Now I know somewhere in the back of my brain filed neatly inside the drawer labeled Baking 101 it says, "When baking muffins or cupcakes, fill the cup half full. Do not overfill."

You probably know this, but an overfilled cup leads to muffins that runneth over and mess all over the bottom of your oven. Yet in my rush to get these done so they'd be an easy and yummy Mother's Day breakfast treat, I did not open up Baking 101, I did not pull out the file called "Muffins," and I did not follow the instructions there in.

The results you can see.

The closer I get to motherhood, the more friends I see become mothers, the more I look back at my own mother's mothering with the retrospective clarity that comes with age--the more I realize mothering comes along with a whole lot of love and with a healthy measure of grace. Grace for muffin tins that runneth over and messy ovens, and grace for grass-stained shorts and unkempt hair, and grace for yoga pants in public and dark circles under eyes.

Grace, grace. Lots and lots of grace.

Grace because none of us are perfect. None of us are going to get it exactly right every day. Some days we shout, when we're striving to be patient. Some days we leave the laundry for another day. Some days we send our kids to school without their lunch. Some days we overfill the muffin tins and make sloppy looking muffins.

But the best part of grace is that even sloppy looking muffins taste good.

I have no delusions of being the perfect mom. I know I'm going to need a lot of grace. I know some days I will speak a little harsher than I want to and will be a little less patient than I strive to be. I know my house will not be immaculate or consistently filled with the aroma of baking cookies. I know Hannah will not like me everyday and some days I may not like her very much either.

But I hope when I forget one of those Parenting 101 basic steps, I take a lessen from these sloppy muffins. Even though it may not be pretty, the outcome is something edible and even tasty, with a whole lot of grace and a whole lot of love mixed in. Because really, even sloppy muffins are better than no muffins at all.

I am thankful for my mom who always strove for edible and tasty even in the midst of overflowing and messy. I am thankful for all the moms in my life who I've watched strive for edible and tasty. And I hope today you get thanked for all that edible and tasty.

Happy Mother's Day, Mom. I love you very much and appreciate you more than words on a page could ever tell.

Streusel Topped Blueberry Muffins

by Heather Walker, original recipe available on allrecipes.com

Ingredients

Muffin Batter

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries
• 1/2 cup butter
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon lemon zest
• 1/2 cup milk

Streusel Topping

• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 5 tablespoons white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons butter, diced

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C). Grease 12 large muffin cups or 18 standard-sized cups. Alternatively, line with paper muffin cups.
2. Combine 2 cups flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in medium bowl. In a small bowl sprinkle 1 to 2 tablespoons of flour over blueberries and set aside. This will keep your batter from turning purple when you fold in the blueberries later.
3. In a large bowl, beat 1/2 cup butter with 3/4 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and stir in vanilla and lemon zest. Fold in dry ingredients alternating between dry ingredients and milk. Fold in blueberries. Fold gently to avoid smashing the berries. Spoon batter into prepared cups.
4. Combine 2 tablespoons flour, 5 tablespoons sugar and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon in a small bowl. Cut in 2 tablespoons butter with fork or pastry blender until mixture resembles course crumbs. Sprinkle over batter in muffin cups.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire rack.