Blueberriest Muffins

When in season, blueberries are quite a treat. Small and bursting with flavor, they are a great snack or addition to a lovely summer breakfast. But in the colder months, fresh blueberries as a snack is not going to satisfy my winter hunger.

Usually this is not something I think about too much, as I tend to stick to my fall/winter fruits of apples, bananas, pears and oranges. But recently, I have noticed a lot of really great sales on blueberries and decided to give a pint a try. I expected sour, tart little things, but was surprised that they were pretty good. So what to do with these little unexpected gifts? As I mentioned above, winter me needs my food to be hearty and filling. Muffins are not only hearty and filling, they are a great go-to food to have when we are in need of a bite but don’t really have much for time. Plus they freeze well and can be eaten on the go. My blueberries were becoming muffins! Feel free to adjust the sugar down a bit if you find these too sweet. In season blueberries (spring and early summer) are a bit sweeter than these winter in season ones, so 3/4 cup of sugar is good when using fresh, in season in your area berries.

Blueberriest Muffins

Prep Time: 20 minutes | Total Time: 50 minutes | Makes: 14-18 muffins

Ingredients

For the Muffins

• 2 cups and 1 tablespoon all purpose flour, divided
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2-2 1/2 cups fresh blueberries

For the Topping

• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Prepare muffin tins by either adding muffin cups to the tins or by using cooking spray, shortening or butter and coating each tin to ensure the muffins do not stick
2. In a stand mixer or medium sized bowl, add the butter and beat smooth with few lumps. Be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl in between mixing to incorporate all butter
3. Add the sugar to the bowl and beat well, for about 2-4 minutes or until mixture begins to appear fluffy Add eggs, one at a time, mixing in between until each egg is just combined
4. Add vanilla and milk, mixing until just combined Add the baking powder, salt and 1 cup of the flour and mix until well combined. Add 1 more cup of flour and mix until combined
5. Before adding blueberries, cover with 1 tablespoons of flour and toss until all berries have a bit of flour on them
6. Add floured blueberries to mixture, using a spoon or spatula to fold the berries in. If using a stand mixer do not use the mixer to combine
7. Using a small spoon or scoop, fill each muffin liner or pan 2/3 of the way full with batter, doing this until all batter is used
8. Combine 2 tablespoons sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon and gently dust over each muffin. You may add more or less of this topping to taste or if you prefer no topping at all you may omit this step
9. Bake in oven for 15-17 minutes or until muffins are golden and springy to the touch
10. Allow to cool in the muffin pans for 2-3 minutes after removing them from the oven and then remove them from the muffin pans and place the on cooling racks to completely cool
11. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 7 days. If you anticipate any muffins being left after that, place muffins in freezer bags or freezer storage and freeze for up to two months.

Tips

• As noted above, these muffins do freeze well and are a perfect single serve quick breakfast. They can be taken out the night before to thaw and reheated in the microwave or oven the next morning for a fresh baked muffin super fast!
• Scraping the bowl in between mixes in all stages of baking is important here and in all recipes that require mixing on ingredients. Getting all the good stuff off the sides of the bowls makes sure that all gets in your batter/mixture and does not turn into an unmixed glob when you go to bake. Plus you don’t want to waste all that good batter.
• Giving the blueberries a quick toss in a bit of flour helps them to not burst as much when baking and become a purple disaster. If you happen to miss it or skip it, it is not the end of the world, but you will notice more exploded berries in your muffins. To be fair, the muffins are just as good so flavor is not impacted!
• When scooping out the batter (or any batter that has a bit of stickiness to it) I find that coating my spoon or scoop with a spray of cooking spray or a bit of shortening (coconut oil would work here too, just ensure it is cold pressed to avoid a coconut flavor) about every 3-4 scoops gets almost all of the batter off the spoon and into the pans where it belongs. This makes more muffins for you and less goop to scrape up in the bowl when you are done.