Blueberry streusel muffins. (Easy!)

Impossible to resist!

With the abundance of summer produce comes a deluge of those lovely plump berries that suddenly seem to be juicier and sweeter when June rolls around. There are only so many bowls of cereal with blueberries one can eat, although I must confess, I’ve yet to reach my limit. Just the same, here’s a great recipe you can whip up in under a half hour, from pantry to breakfast table (or afternoon tea!). Makes a perfect dozen, and they freeze like a dream.

for the muffins:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1/3 cup milk
1 cup fresh blueberries (more if you’d like)
1/2 cup white sugar

for the streusel:

1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup butter (half a stick), melted
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400F. Combine 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, and cinnamon in small mixing bowl. Pour in melted butter; stir and set aside.

In a one-cup measure, pour in the milk and then the oil; crack in the egg and beat lightly with a fork; set aside.

In medium mixing bowl, combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, salt, and baking soda. Stir wet ingredients into dry and then fold in blueberries.

Spoon batter into paper-lined muffin cups. Top with the streusel. Bake for 20 minutes and then allow to cool on rack in pan for 10 minutes. Remove muffins from tin and allow to cool completely (if you can wait that long!) or serve warm.

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Fresh corn and avocado gazpacho.

Oven-roasted corn.

This chilled summertime soup takes gazpacho to a whole new level. It’s a velvety sweet departure from the usual tomato-based preparation one usually associates with gazpacho. The roasted corn, sliced from the cob and placed directly into the soup pot adds a lovely sweetness and crunch. Don’t be intimidated by the length of this recipe; it’s really quite easy. And don’t skip the step of making a broth out of the cobs that have been relieved of their kernels. This adds such a lovely, complex flavor that simply can’t be duplicated by replacing with canned vegetable broth that you might have in your pantry.

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Cake fail.

‘Nuff said.

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