A hint of spring in those Blueberry Muffins with the lemony topping? If so, we're ready.

They were featured in a magazine article on Christmas-morning breakfast goodies, but when I baked them and dined on them, I was certain a touch of spring breezed through. (Our unusual springlike weather in mid-January may have contributed to that.)

I’m a blueberry muffin adorer and preparer from way back, but I’ve never topped them with with anything like this Lemon-Cream Cheese Glaze. The fluffy lemony topping brings out the flavor of the blueberries amazingly. I used frozen blueberries in my mixture, but fresh blueberries, of course, are ideal if you can encounter some.

Christmas morning (as the Southern Living December 2011 issue suggested), Easter morning, or just plain ole Saturday morning (the time when ours were enjoyed), these gorgeous muffins are winners.

Blueberry Muffins with Lemon-Cream Cheese Glaze

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup sugar (or sugar substitute)

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons salt (or salt substitute)

3 large eggs (or 3/4 cup egg substitute)

1 1/2 cups milk (I used skim)

1/2 cup butter, melted

2 cups frozen (or fresh) blueberries

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Stir together first 4 ingredients. Whisk together eggs and next 2 ingredients; add to flour mixture; stir just until dry ingredients are moistened. Toss blueberries with 1 tablespoon flour; gently fold into batter. Spoon mixture into 1 1/2 lightly greased 12-cup muffin pans. Fill muffin cups three-fourths full. Bake at 450 degrees for 14 to 15 minutes or until muffins are lightly browned and a wooden pick inserted into center comes out clean. Immediately remove from pans to wire racks. Let cool 10 minutes. Makes 1 1/2 dozen muffins.

Lemon-Cream Cheese Glaze

1 (3-ounce) package cream cheese, softened (I used low-fat cream cheese)

1 teaspoon lemon zest

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups sifted powdered sugar

Beat cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Add lemon zest and next 2 ingredients; beat until smooth. Gradually add powdered sugar. Beat until smooth. Frost muffins.

Special-event perfect are these Triple Berry Muffins

Time to start thinking about those Christmas-morning breakfasts. In my recipe binder that houses Christmas-y recipes I’ve clipped over the years, I found this little jewel tucked away: Triple Berry Muffins. A wonderful and healthy combination of fresh blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries makes a beautiful muffin that’s special-event perfect.

The original recipe (from Quick Cooking September/October 2002) called for chopped fresh strawberries as the third berry in the ingredient list, but in place of those I used blackberries; as I’ve already mentioned numerous times, Hubby can’t be on the same planet with a strawberry without having an uncomfortable reaction, so the chopped blackberries worked just as fine.

We enjoyed a warm sampling briefly as they popped from the oven, but as soon as they cooled, I stored them away in an airtight container and sequestered them for a short winter’s nap in the freezer until the Big Day arrives. What a wonderful treat to look toward!

Triple Berry Muffins

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups sugar (or sugar substitute)

4 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

3 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt (or salt substitute)

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 eggs (or 1/2 cup egg substitute)

1 1/4 cups milk (or milk substitute)

1 cup butter or margarine, melted

1 cup fresh blueberries

1/2 cup fresh raspberries

1/2 cup chopped fresh strawberries (or blackberries)

In a large bowl combine the dry ingredients. In another bowl beat the eggs, milk, and butter; stir into dry ingredients until just moistened. Fold in berries. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups three-fourths full. Bake at 375 degrees for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick emerges clean. Cool for 5 minutes before you remove these muffins from pans to wire racks. Makes about 1 1/2 dozen.

Yogurt addition makes fruit muffins wonderfully smooth

Saturday morning breakfast time . . . because I’d thought ahead and set most of my ingredients and cooking implements out the night before, everything was a breeze. I had been wanting to try this muffin recipe that called for a container of fruity yogurt as part of the muffin batter. The recipe specified blueberry low-fat yogurt and blueberries as key elements but noted that you could substitute your favorite fruit and flavor of yogurt (or use what you had on hand).

I was glad it also specified that at the end, the batter would be thick. The mixture was like churning butter, it was so thick and heavy. But it made a wonderfully smooth, solid muffin. The addition of the yogurt gave it a wonderful texture plus added to the muffin the health benefits of yogurt.

The recipe says the mixture makes 20, but I only got a dozen muffins. Perhaps that’s because I really like to fill the tins pretty full.

The weekend morning was cool with a light breeze—perfect for breakfast on the deck so we could utilize our new lawn furniture that has been the subject of Hubby’s mutterings: “We bought this new patio furniture and never sit out here to use it.” I had kept consoling him by saying, “We will. Just wait until cooler weather arrives.” Finally I got to be right—and made sure he observed that fact.

Everything made for a lovely Saturday morning with some lovely fruit-and-yogurty muffins.

Fruit and Yogurt Muffins

Cooking spray

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup wheat flour

1 cup white sugar (or sugar substitute)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 (6-ounce) container low-fat blueberry yogurt

1 egg (or 1/4 cup egg substitute)

1 teaspoon vanilla

4 tablespoons margarine, melted

2 cups fresh blueberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 20 muffin cups or line muffin pan with paper muffin liners. Stir together flour, sugar, baking soda, and baking powder. In a separate bowl combine yogurt, egg, vanilla, margarine, and blueberries. Stir mixture together just until combined. Batter will be very thick. Scoop into prepared muffin cups. Bake for 25 minutes. You can substitute your favorite fruit if you'd rather have something besides blueberries—strawberry yogurt and strawberries, blackberry yogurt and blackberries, etc. Makes 12-20 servings. (Recipe courtesy Chickasaw Nutrition Services.)

Blueberries, oatmeal, walnuts, sweet topping: these muffin gems have it all

I could barely believe it: four years had gone by since I last made Oatmeal Blueberry Muffins. The notation on my recipe card recorded that I previously had baked these for our family to enjoy while we were on the way to Renée and Andy’s wedding in the summer of 2007. The roommate of our daughter was marrying her sweetie in Colorado Springs. Our daughter and son-in-law in the back seat and Hubby and I in the front of our car had munched on Oatmeal Blueberry Muffins while we motored up to the lovely setting for the nuptials.

Now the newlyweds are about to celebrate theirfourth wedding anniversary. Time to dust off the muffin recipe and prepare this delicious treat again. Far too much time had lapsed since we’d enjoyed these goodies.

I loved these muffins because they were stuffed with healthy blueberries, had some oatmeal and walnuts stirred in, and were topped with a dusting of brown sugar. (I cannot tell a lie: in my first recent attempt, I got distracted and left out the 1/2 cup brown sugar from the ingredients. I remembered to sprinkle the brown sugar on for the topping, but I knew the insides would be a little lacking. Guess what? They were just as good without it—at least that’s how Hubby consoled me. But I did turn around and make a remediated batch, since we knew Hubby’s brother would be in town last weekend. Wouldn’t want our guest to be served muffins that were less than the best.)

I have a few muffins left over, so I’ve stored them away to pop out for Easter-morning breakfast on Sunday. Oatmeal Blueberry Muffins make a dandy treat that suits for many occasions.

Oatmeal Blueberry Muffins

1 cup flour

1 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats, uncooked

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt (or salt substitute)

1 cup low-fat buttermilk (or 1 tablespoon vinegar mixed with enough skim milk to make 1 cup)

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed (or 1/4 cup brown-sugar substitute)

1/4 cup oil

1 egg, beaten (or 1/4 cup egg substitute)

1 cup frozen blueberries

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

2 tablespoons brown sugar

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Combine flour, oats, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside. In a medium mixing bowl combine buttermilk (or skim milk mixed with vinegar), 1/2 cup brown sugar, oil, and egg; add to flour mixture. Mix just until moist. Fold in blueberries and nuts. Pour batter into greased muffin cups to 2/3 full; sprinkle with remaining 2 tablespoons brown sugar. Bake 20-25 minutes or until done.