blueberry pistachio meyer lemon cornmeal muffins

Lemons, lemons everywhere... but what oh what to do? A generous co-worker brought in bags and bags of freshly picked lemons. And I already had a bag of Meyer lemons and another bag of other lemons in my refrigerator. another co-worker strongly encouraged me to make lemon bars, but I felt like something a little less sweet. I set out in search of an inspired lemon scone recipe and found some interesting options. Then I stumbled across a post from Irvin Lin's very wonderful Eat the Love, and with a few adjustments I had the perfect concoction. These muffins are absolutely delicious and I will certainly be making them again and again with other fruit and nut pairings.


Happy baking!

Blueberry Pistachio Meyer Lemon Cornmeal Muffins 

Muffin Batter
280 g (2 cups) all purpose flour
1 cup white granulated sugar
 90 g (1/2 cup) cornmeal
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
zest of 1 Meyer lemon
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup Meyer lemon juice
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup blueberries
1/2 cup shelled & chopped pistachios

Streusel Topping
140 g (1 cup) all purpose flour
110 g (1/2 cup) white granulated sugar
60 g (1/4 cup) dark brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1. Preheat oven to 350˚F. Line a regular muffin tin with paper cups or spray generously with cooking oil.

2. Place flour, sugar, cornmeal, baking powder, salt and zest in a large mixing bowl. With a whisk, stir vigorously until well blended.

3. Place the buttermilk, olive oil, Meyer lemon juice, egg, vanilla extract, and almond extract in a medium mixing bowl. Stir with a whisk until well blended.

4. Gently fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients with a large spatula, until most of the dry ingredients are incorporated. It’s okay if there are some dry pockets of flour, as you don’t want to over-mix the batter.

5. Fold the blueberries and chopped pistachios into the batter until just incorporated and distributed. Divide the batter into the prepared muffin tins.

6. Make the streusel topping by placing the flour, sugars, cinnamon and salt in a medium mixing bowl. Drizzle the butter over the dry ingredients, tossing with a fork until the topping starts to come together in clumps. Sprinkle the clumps of streusel topping over the muffins evenly.

7. Bake in the oven for 24-28 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of a muffin comes out clean. Let cool in the muffin tins for 10 minutes before moving them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes 12 muffins.