Two Saturdays ago, half of my lab had to go into work for a big radioactivity experiment. I had seen this Blueberry Muffin recipe in Cook's Illustrated and thought this was the perfect opportunity to try it out. Maybe because it was early on a Saturday, but I totally messed up making this recipe. In my defense, I think the directions could have been a tad more clear (I've amended the recipe below). Despite my errors, they turned out delicious! I'm sure they'd be even better made the right way :)
The idea behind this recipe, according to the author, is to have a blueberry muffin recipe that works with any kind of blueberry - even the 'watery supermarket kind.' To do this, she came up with a simple jam that you swirl into the batter before baking. She also provided a few options for topping the muffins. I went with the lemon-sugar as listed in the original recipe, but I'd love to try the streusel topping next!
Best Blueberry Muffins
Makes 12 muffins
Ingredients:
For the Lemon-Sugar Topping:
1/2 cup (2 1/3 ounces) sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest from 1 lemon
For the Muffins:
2 cups (about 10 ounces) fresh blueberries, picked over*
1 1/8 cups (8 ounces) plus 1 teaspoon sugar
2 1/2 cups (12 1/2 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon table salt
2 large eggs
4 Tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk**
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Notes:
*To use frozen blueberries, substitute 2 cups frozen blueberries for fresh. Cook 1 cup berries as directed in step 3. Rinse remaining cup berries under cold water and dry well. In step 4, toss dried berries in flour mixture before adding egg mixture.
**If buttermilk is unavailable, substitute 3/4 cup plain whole-milk or low-fat yogurt thinned with 1/4 cup milk. I made my own buttermilk by adding 1 Tablespoon white vinegar to 1 cup of skim milk.
Directions:
Make the topping:
1. Stir together sugar and lemon zest in a small bowl until combined; set aside.
Make the muffins:
2. Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat to 425F. Spray standard muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray. I used a silicon muffin pan with muffin liners.
3. Bring 1 cup blueberries and 1 teaspoon sugar to simmer in a 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.
4. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl.
5. In a separate, medium-sized bowl, whisk remaining 1 1/8 cups sugar and eggs together until thick and homogenous, about 45 seconds. Slowly whisk in butter and oil until combined. Whisk in buttermilk and vanilla until combined.
6. Using a rubber spatula, fold egg mixture and remaining cup blueberries into flour mixture until just moistened. Batter will be very lumpy with a few spots of dry flour; do not overmix.
7. Use an ice cream scoop or large spoon to divide batter equally among prepared muffin cups. Batter should completely fill cups and mound slightly.
8. Spoon a teaspoon of cooked berry mixture into the center of each mound of batter. Using a chopstick or skewer, gently swirl berry filling into batter using figure-eight motion. Sprinkle lemon-sugar evenly over muffins. Try not to sprinkle evenly over pan like I did - I was in a hurry :)
9. 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 too wire rack and cool 5 minutes before serving.
Streusel Topping
Follow Best Bleuberry Muffin recipe, omitting Lemon-Sugar Topping. Prepare streusel by combining 3 Tablespoons granulated sugar, 3 Tablespoons dark brown sugar, a pinch of table salt, and 1/2 cup plus 3 Tablespoons (3 1/2 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour in a small bowl. Drizzle with 5 Tablespoons warm, melted unsalted butter and toss with a fork until evenly moistened and misture forms large chunks and some pea-sized pieces throughout. Proceed with recipe as directed, sprinkle streusel topping over muffins before baking.
Source: Adapted from Cook's Illustrated
Low-Carb Stuffed Pepper Soup
14 hours ago
I make a blueberry muffin w/ streusel topping-it's my family's fave. But, I love the combo of lemon and blueberry, so I'll be trying the lemon sugar topping!
ReplyDeleteWow, these look so awesome! Yummy.
ReplyDeleteYum- these look divine. Blueberry muffins are a favorite around here!
ReplyDeleteI have this recipe printed out and have yet to make it. Looks yummy
ReplyDeleteThose look AMAZING!
ReplyDeleteAwww, that was so sweet of you to bring in muffins for your lab! I love blueberries muffins and the addition of lemon-sugar topping sounds fantastic!
ReplyDeleteWill you marry me? Or, hrm, I mean, send me some muffins? I have a soft spot for blueberry muffins, they are my favorite kind. If this is what a mess up looks like, I'd love to see a success!
ReplyDeleteAlso, note that if one needs to improvise buttermilk, standard milk mixed with a tablespoon or so of plain white yogurt that is allowed to ripen at room temp. for a bit is a much closer substitute - it will have a very similar microbial makeup as yogurt contains the same bugs as cultured buttermilk. I often do this instead of buying a big old container of cultured buttermilk. I think the rule is 1 tbl per cup or so. Same thing goes for crème fraîche (mostly) excepting of course, for the use of cream instead of milk.
The muffins look wonderful. I love blueberries, the more the merrier!
ReplyDeleteI agree with Nick.....what was wrong with these muffins???? They look fantastic, and you can make them for me anytime. :) Even tho I am not a fan of too much lemon...I think it would complement the blueberries very well. I will try this recipe, for sure.
ReplyDeleteThanks everyone :)
ReplyDeleteNick - thanks for the tips on making buttermilk and creme fraiche. I was scrambling that morning to google a buttermilk substitute since I realized the buttermilk I had was past its expiration date!
MOM - I will have to tell you what I did with this recipe...big time airhead move :)
Wow! Those are the prettiest blueberry muffins I have ever seen!
ReplyDelete