Bakery Blueberry Muffins

A lone bag of fresh blueberries in the freezer inspired me to make one of my kids’ favorite after school snacks–blueberry muffins.

But making blueberry muffins without them turning, well blue, can be tricky. If the batter is too thin then the berries end up sinking to the bottom of the muffin cup and you end up with a layer of blueberry in your muffin. And if it’s too thick? Then the blueberries break apart as you’re trying to stir them in.

This muffin recipe fixes both problems with a heaping tablespoon of baking powder to keep the blueberries from sinking. It’s also a stiff batter that you can still stir the berries into, without them getting mushed (just stir gently!).

Instead of fresh blueberries, I like to use frozen ones. I find that the blueberries tend to stay intact better as I stir if they’re more solid. Over the summer, I’ve been buying extra blueberries to use through the winter, but you can still find fresh ones at the store, at least for a little while. Freeze ‘em yourself or buy frozen to make these muffins.

Recipe

Prep time: 15 minutes + baking

Servings: 12 muffins

Ingredients

2 cups flour

1 cup sugar

1 Tablespoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

6 Tablespoons butter

1 egg

2/3 cup milk + 2 Tablespoons

1 Teaspoon vanilla

1 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)

Directions

1. Heat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. Mix the dry ingredients together in a food processor. Add the butter, cut up, and process until it has the texture of cornmeal (alternatively, you can cut the butter in with a pastry cutter). Pour into a large mixing bowl.
3. In another bowl mix together the milk, egg and vanilla.
4. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry mixture until fully incorporated. The batter will be thick.
5. Gently fold the blueberries into the batter being careful that they don’t break apart.
6. Add batter in spoonfuls into 12 muffin cups lined with paper or baking spray. (I like big blueberry muffins so I usually only have 10.)
7. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until just browned.