“Short u sound -ck” These Are Good!

~ annedarga

Okay, picture this… two very tired 3rd grade teachers on a Friday afternoon trying to figure out how to celebrate the February staff birthdays.  Mind you, this is after dealing with 27 eight and nine year olds (each), with about 3 of them (per class) throwing attitude/hissy fits.  Good times.

In truth, that is a very true story but I didn’t mention the 24 or so (each) delightfully sweet kids we teach.  Regardless, we truly do love them all (which frustrates us to no end because the 3 or so students who are trying to give us wrinkles and gray hairs are endearing too).

Anyhoo, I digress.  My incredibly gifted, kick arse teaching partner and I are in charge of bringing snacks tomorrow.  I hate this kind of team/community building stuff because of the pressure alone.  Who wants to spend $1200 on snacks (okay, just a bit of an exaggeration) on a staff celebration when we don’t even all get to hang out together because of recess timing?

With that said, I LOVE when other people are in charge of this because I am the first in line with my paper plate tapping in my hand impatiently as they set up the treats.  I never said I’m fair or logical.

We decided to divide and conquer.  I made a big coffee cake plus these crazy delicious lemon blueberry muffins while my friend is bringing juices and cheeses and crackers and loveliness.

Hopefully the birthday kids will feel loved.

Bakery Style Lemon Blueberry Muffins (recipe care of thecafesucrefarine.com)

Lemon Blueberry Muffins.jpg

INGREDIENTS:

Crumb topping:  5 tablespoons butter (melted), ½ cup sugar, ½ cup flour, ½ cup oatmeal, 1/4 teaspoon salt

Muffins:  2 cups all purpose flour, 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder, ½ teaspoon salt, ½ cup butter (softened), 1 cup sugar, 2 large eggs, ½ cup buttermilk, finely grated zest of 1 lemon, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
Glaze:  3 tablespoons lemon juice, 1 cup powdered sugar
DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 350˚F. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners Make the crumb topping by combining the melted butter, sugar, flour, oatmeal and salt. Stir with a fork until crumbs form. Set aside. Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a medium size bowl. Set aside. If using frozen blueberries, place them in a small bowl and return to freezer until ready to use. If using fresh berries, place in a small bowl and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter for 1 minute until soft and fluffy. Add sugar and continue to beat for 3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time and beat just until incorporated. Add buttermilk, vanilla and lemon zest and mix on low until combined. Remove bowl from mixer. Add flour mixture and stir, by hand, until flour disappears. Do not over mix or muffins will be tough. Gently stir in blueberries. Divide mixture evenly in the prepared muffin pan. Sprinkle with the crumb topping. Bake at 350˚F for 22 to 25 minutes or until light golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow muffins to cool for 5 minutes in the pan before removing to a wire rack. Drizzle lightly with the lemon glaze. For lemon glaze, combine powdered sugar and lemon juice in a medium size bowl. Stir with a fork or whisk until smooth.

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