Try this Blueberry Muffins recipe, or contribute your own.
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon table salt
- 2 large eggs
- muffins
- 2 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- lemon-sugar topping
- 1/6 cup sugar (original recipe called for 1/3 cup, i didn't think you need that much sugar topping on these muffins - they are pretty sweet as is)
- 1 1/2 teaspoon finely grated zest from 1 lemon
- 2 cups fresh blueberries (about 10 ounces)
- 1 1/8 cup sugar (8 ounces) plus 1 teaspoon
- 2 1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour (12 1/2 ounces)
- 4 tablespoon (1/2 stick) unsalted butter melted and cooled slightly
- 1 cup buttermilk (you can substitute 3/4 cup plain whole-milk or low-fat yogurt thinned with 1/4 cup milk)
- Carbohydrate 8.00529231081625 g
- Cholesterol 209.274583334024 mg
- Fat 9.07649247533521 g
- Fiber 2.19293731680543 g
- Protein 7.18667841226982 g
- Saturated Fat 4.11904143859846 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (119g)
- Sodium 6393.09296461119 mg
- Sugar 5.81235499401082 g
- Trans Fat 1.21603227798767 g
- Calories 137 calories
Step-by-step
- Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and preheat oven to 425 degrees. Spray standard muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray. Bring 1 cup blueberries and 1 teaspoon sugar to simmer in small saucepan over medium heat.
- Cook, mashing berries with spoon several times and stirring frequently, until berries have broken down and mixture is thickened and reduced to 1/4 cup, about 6 minutes. Transfer to small bowl and cool to room temperature, 10 to 15 minutes.
- For the lemon/sugar topping: Stir together sugar and lemon zest in small bowl until combined; set aside. I had more than half of the lemon/sugar topping leftover; hence why I recommend only making half a batch of what was originally called for.
- Coarse sugar would be even better in this since regular sugar seems to dissolve into the muffin when baking, but overall the added texture was a nice contrast.
- Whisk remaining 1 1/8 cups sugar and eggs together in medium bowl until thick and homogeneous, about 45 seconds.
- Whisk flour, baking powder and salt together in large bowl. Slowly whisk in butter and oil until combined. Whisk in buttermilk and vanilla until combined.
- Using rubber spatula, fold egg mixture and remaining 1 cup of blueberries into flour mixture until just moistened. (Batter will be very lumpy with few spots of dry flour; do not overmix.)
- Use an ice cream scoop or large spoon to fill half of the muffin cups. Spoon a teaspoon of cooked berry mixture into center of each mound of batter, pushing it below the surface.
- Using a chopstick or skewer, gently swirl the berry filling into batter using a figure-eight motion. Fill the remaining cup with batter so that it completely fills the muffin cup.
- Sprinkle lemon sugar evenly over muffins.
- Bake until muffin tops are golden and just firm, 17 to 19 minutes, rotating muffin tin from front to back halfway through baking time. Cool muffins in muffin tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack and cool 5 minutes before serving.
- These muffins were great and I loved the blueberry jam in it, except I made a fatal flaw. I didn't have buttermilk on hand so I used yogurt instead. The problem was that I reached for the non-fat yogurt at the market and didn't realize it till I got home. If you don't know already, non-fat yogurt has absolutely no taste and apparently in baking, using whole or low-fat dairy products will make a huge difference in flavor. I will definitely try making these again with buttermilk or with whole or low-fat yogurt next time. I hope you can get your hands on some blueberries (or even a bag of frozen ones) and whip up these muffins for yourself.
Standard bakery muffins often rely on a dense, cake-like crumb, but this formulation utilizes a high initial oven temperature of 425 degrees Fahrenheit to rapidly activate the leavening agents and force an aggressive upward rise before the exterior sets. Achieving the ideal contrast between a plush interior and a shattering crust requires strict adherence to physical technique rather than guesswork.
- Reduce the quantity of lemon-sugar topping by half to avoid an overly heavy crust, as a full batch leaves excess grit that fails to dissolve during baking.
- Fold the wet and dry components together strictly until just moistened, leaving visible pockets of flour to prevent the gluten from overdeveloping into a tough, rubbery texture.
- Simmer half the fruit on the stove until reduced to a concentrated 1/4 cup jam, which prevents excess moisture from turning the surrounding crumb soggy while concentrating the natural tartness.
- Bake for 17 to 19 minutes total, ensuring the tins are rotated halfway through the duration to compensate for uneven oven hot spots.
- Cool the baked goods in the metal tin for precisely 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack, allowing residual heat to firm the fragile outer edges without over-baking the center.
Pairing these warm pastries with a sharp, cured cheese or a sharp green salad dressed in a bright vinaigrette provides a necessary savory counterbalance to the sweet fruit jam hidden inside. Proper structural integrity depends entirely on avoiding over-mixed batter and respecting the thermal transitions dictated by the oven.
