Blueberry Zucchini Muffins

Blueberry Zucchini Muffins

• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup applesauce (unsweetened)
• 3 tbsp cup vegetable oil
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup grated zucchini
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 cup fresh blueberries
• Crumb Topping
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup flour
• 3 tbsp butter, cold
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1. Wash the blueberries under some cool water. I've tried this recipe with frozen berries and it works in a pinch, but the result is always so much better with fresh blueberries.
2. Lay them to dry on some kitchen paper or a clean kitchen towel, and try to resist eating them all by the handful.
3. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line 2 muffin tins with 18 paper muffin cups.
4. In a large bowl, mix together the eggs, applesauce, oil, and vanilla using a wire whisk.
5. My applesauce is pink because it's homemade (from my stash in the freezer; I make a huge batch every fall), but store-bought unsweetened applesauce works well too.
6. Add the zucchini and lemon zest, and switch to a wooden spoon or spatula to incorporate them into the mixture (the strands of zucchini get caught on the wire whisk and don't get incorporated properly). I don't ever peel my zucchini; I love the look of the dark green flecks in the muffins, and the skin contains a lot of healthy fibre, potassium, vitamin B-6, vitamin K, and antioxidants!
7. Using a sieve or flour sifter, sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon into a large mixing bowl.
8. Once the dry ingredients have been sifted to prevent lumps, add the blueberries to the dry ingredients.
9. This may seem strange, but adding the blueberries to the dry ingredients helps to keep the colour from the berries from seeping into the light coloured muffin batter. The flour mixture coats the berries and absorbs any berry juice that's sitting on the berries that might discolour the batter. This is an important step because it prevents your batter from turning purple!
10. Adding the blueberries to the dry ingredients also prevents them from sinking to the bottom of the muffins during baking, so this really is a crucial step!
11. At this point, pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix with a wooden spoon or spatula only until they're just incorporated. Spoon the batter into the 18 muffin cups, distributing it as evenly as possible.
12. Don't put them in the oven yet!! It's time to make the crumb topping...
13. Grab another smaller bowl and add to it the 1/4 cup sugar, the 1/4 cup flour, the 1/2 tsp cinnamon and 3 tbsp cold butter.
14. Roughly mix these ingredients together with a fork or pastry blender until the mixture becomes crumbly. Spoon a little bit of this mixture over each of the cups full of muffin batter. It's okay if you can see some small chunks of butter.
15. Bake these muffins at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 23-25 minutes. You'll know they're done when a toothpick inserted in the centre of one comes out clean.

• Preparation time: 20 minutes
• Cook time: 25 minutes
• Total time: 45 minutes