Fast, sweet and home baked treats are one of my favorites. When I ran across Blueberry Streusel Ultimate Muffins by Pillsbury in the baking aisle of the grocery store, I decided to give the mix a try. After all, the box claims “6 minutes to oven.”
Running against a little bit of a time crunch, I decided to make the Blueberry Streusel Ultimate Muffins by Pillsbury for breakfast this morning. I had about 30 minutes from start to finish to get the muffins on the table, and wondered if the fancy filled streusel muffins could be prepared that quickly.
The first of the three main steps is to prepare the muffin batter. After adding the eggs, milk and oil, I whipped up a thick doughy batter. Although the box claims “no mixer needed”, I was tempted to use one to get the lumps out of the batter. After a good mixing, I decided to leave the lumps, because I know most muffin batters are a little lumpy, and they will bake out, leaving a soft, uniform cake-style muffin.
After the batter was prepared, I filled the muffin tin openings 3/4 full, as instructed on the box. The Blueberry Streusel Ultimate Muffins by Pillsbury package says the batter will make twelve muffins, but I was only able to fill eight and half of the openings in the muffin tin.
The next step is to add the blueberry filling. Now, the package on the box shows a beautiful muffin with a center full of blueberry filling. Being one of the main reasons for the purchase, I wondered how the little packet of blueberry filling was going to make such fat filled muffins.
I squeezed a dallop of blueberry filling, as instructed on the package, into the center of each lump of muffin batter. Since the blueberry filling sat on top of the batter, I wondered how it was going to sink into the center of the muffin, but I left that mystery alone, since it must involve the actual baking process.
The last step to preparing Blueberry Streusel Ultimate Muffins by Pillsbury is to add the streusel topping to the un-baked muffins. When I opened the streusel packet, I was a little disappointed. Every streusel I have ever made or eaten includes brown sugar, oats, crushed nuts, or at least something with a little texture. The packet of streusel was a white, sweet powder. Although it tasted good, it isn’t a streusel.
After covering each muffin with the streusel powder, I popped them into the pre-heated 400F oven for 15 minutes.
Although I didn’t time myself, I think the muffin preparation was fast and easy. It may have taken a few minutes longer than the “6 minutes to oven” claim on the package, but it definitely wasn’t a difficult preparation.
Once the oven timer went off, I checked the muffins, and they were completely baked. After letting them cool for about five minutes, I was ready for a taste test.
The muffins were plump, and had risen well above the top of the muffin tins. After cutting one in half, it was evident that my blueberry filling, wasn’t a filling at all, but rather a blueberry topping, since it never did sink to the middle of the muffin. Next time, I think I may reserve a bit of muffin batter to put on top of the muffins after adding the filling, so it is more of a “stuffed muffin.”
The powder streusel had magically melted into the blueberry topping and batter, creating a sweet crumbly topping. The batter itself produced a soft, sweet cake-like muffin. It wasn’t too dense or full of air pockets, so it was a success.
Although the Blueberry Streusel Ultimate Muffins by Pillsbury mix didn’t yield the promised 12 muffins, and the blueberry filling was more of a topping, the home baked flavor is enough to make me purchase the Pillsbury product again.
