Orange Scented Blueberry Muffins

I was in the mood to bake this weekend and thought I would make my staple blueberry muffins that are about as basic as you get yet still seem to be a crowd pleaser. I was about to settle on making these good ole' muffins when I remembered that I had seen on one of my favorite food blogs, A Sweet Pea Chef, a recipe for orange scented blueberry muffins and her pictures alone made my mouth water. I had never thought of adding orange zest to a blueberry muffin, but I decided that a little orange zest and some crumb topping might be just what my muffin recipe was lacking. You all will be pleased to know that these might be the best blueberry muffins I have ever eaten (bold statement I know).

You Will Need For the Muffins:

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 egg, at room temperature
• 2/3 cup milk
• 3/4 Tbsp freshly grated orange zest
• 1 cup fresh blueberries, washed and de-stemmed
• softened butter to grease muffin tin

You Will Need for the Crumb Topping:

• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 6 Tbsp unsalted butter, chopped into small pieces
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Here We Go:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and butter muffin tin or line with muffin liners and set aside
• Combine flour, 3/4 cup sugar, baking powder and kosher salt in a medium mixing bowl
• In a separate mixing bowl, combine vegetable oil, egg, milk and orange zest
• Add above mixture, all at once, to the dry flour mixture
• Stir until just moistened (Note that the mixture will be lumpy & thick)
• Gently fold in the blueberries to the wet mixture
• To make the crumb topping, combine 1/4 cup sugar, brown sugar, 1/3 cup flour, cubed butter & ground cinnamon in a small mixing bowl
• Spoon muffin batter into the buttered (or lined) muffin tin, filling until almost full
• Generously sprinkle the crumb topping over the tops of each muffin cup
• Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until muffin tops are golden brown
• Remove from heat and cool on a cooling rack for 5 minutes 

Makes 12 Muffins
Happy Feasting!