Blueberry coffee cake... muffins!!

I love blueberries and anything made with blueberries (almost as much as I love chocolate and anything chocolate-covered or chocolate-filled ;-)). This morning I felt like having a slice of Blueberry coffee cake for breakfast, but then I looked up the recipe and I found out how time consuming (and messy!) it would have been to make a coffee cake from scratch. You know what's easy, though? Muffins :-) So I thought I'd make some coffee cake-like muffins. I wish I could post pictures of the finished muffins, but they were gone by the time I was done typing this recipe :-)

Since I have been trying to avoid things I am sensitive to, I decided to make this recipe wheat- and dairy-free. But I promise you can't tell! Also, I made a small batch, so feel free to double the ingredients to make a full batch (12 muffins).

Ingredients:
- 1 large egg
- 1/3 cup vanilla almond milk
- 1 tsp lemon extract
- 1 cup unbleached spelt flour
- 1/4 cup evaporated cane juice (or brown sugar)
- 1 tsp alluminum-free baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- a pinch of salt
- 2 Tbsp Earth balance dairy-free buttery stick

Preparation:
1. Prepare the blueberry filling (recipe below) and move it to a bowl to let it cool down.

2. Turn on the oven to 375.

3. In a large bowl, mash the buttery stick with a fork until creamy - then add dry ingredients and mix manually with a whisk, pressing any chunks of butter sticks until it's all well mixed into a coarse texture.

4. In a small bowl, beat the egg, then add the almond milk and lemon extract and keep beating until well combined.

5. Add egg mixture to flour mixture and work the mixture with the whisk until well combined. It will be thick and sticky. Divide this mixture more or less evenly into 6 muffin cups.

6. Grab the bowl with the Blueberry filling and divide it also into the muffin cups. With a toothpick, gently stir/swirl the filling into the dough a little.

7. Sprinkle the streusel topping (recipe below) onto the muffins and bake for 20 minutes.Turn off the oven and leave the muffins in for 10 more minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and cool.

8. If you want to reach breakfast Nirvana, enjoy one with an imitation-London Fog latte (Earl Grey steeped with hot soy milk instead of water, and sweetened).

Blueberry Filling:
1. In a small saucepan, mix the following:
- 1 cup unsweetened frozen blueberries
- 1 Tbsp evaporated cane juice
- 1 Tbsp lime juice (lemon will work too)
- 1 Tbsp water
- 1 Tbsp brown rice flour

2. Stir to combine, and place over medium-low heat. Stir every now and then, and when the blueberries have thawed, take the pan off the heat and mash the blueberries with a fork a bit. Stir again and place back on the stove, stirring every now and then until thickened and bubbly.

3. Pour into a glass or ceramic bowl and let cool to room temperature.


Streusel Topping
1. In a small bowl, mash 2 Tbsp Earth balance dairy-free buttery stick with a fork.

2. Add the following:
- 2 1/2 Tbsp evaporated cane juice
- 2 tsp spelt flour
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 Tbsp Earth balance dairy-free buttery stick

3. Mix with your hands, then sprinkle on the muffins before placing the tray in the oven.