Best Blueberry Muffins

Instructions

Best Blueberry Muffins

• 1. Pick over 2 cups (10 ounces) fresh blueberries.
• 2. Melt 4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter. Set aside to cool.
• 3. Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees. Spray standard muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray.
• 4. FOR TOPPING: Using rasp grater, finely grate 1½ teaspoons zest from 1 lemon. Transfer to small bowl. Stir in ⅓ cup (2⅓ ounces) sugar until combined. Set aside.
• 5. FOR MUFFINS: Bring 1 cup blueberries and 1 teaspoon sugar to simmer in small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, mashing berries with wooden spoon several times and stirring frequently, until berries have broken down and mixture is reduced to ¼ cup, about 6 minutes.
• 6. Transfer to small bowl and cool to room temperature, 10 to 15 minutes.
• 7. Meanwhile, whisk 2½ cups (12½ ounces) all-purpose flour, 2½ teaspoons baking powder, and 1 teaspoon salt together in large bowl.
• 8. Whisk remaining 1⅛ cups (8 ounces) sugar and 2 large eggs together in medium bowl until thick and homogeneous, about 45 seconds.
• 9. Slowly whisk in melted butter and ¼ cup vegetable oil until combined. Whisk in 1 cup buttermilk and 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract until combined.
• 10. Using rubber spatula, fold egg mixture and remaining 1 cup blueberries into flour mixture until just moistened. (Batter will be lumpy with streaks of flour; don’t overmix.)
• 11. Using ice cream scoop or large spoon, divide batter equally among prepared muffin cups (batter should completely fill cups and mound slightly).
• 12. Spoon teaspoon of cooked berry mixture into center of each mound of batter.
• 13. Using chopstick or skewer, gently swirl berry filling into batter using figure-eight motion.
• 14. Sprinkle lemon sugar evenly over muffins.
• 15. Bake until muffin tops are golden and just firm, 17 to 19 minutes, rotating muffin tin from front to back halfway through baking time.
• 16. Cool muffins in muffin tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack and cool 5 minutes before serving.

Total Time: 1 hour, 15 minutes
Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Active Cooking Time: 25 minutes
Yield: Makes 12 muffins
Make Ahead: Serve immediately
Difficulty: Intermediate

Ingredients

• For lemon-sugar topping
• ⅓ Cup (2⅓ ounces) sugar
• 1 lemon
• For muffins
• 2 Cups (about 10 ounces) fresh blueberries *
• 1⅛ Cups (8 ounces) plus 1 teaspoon sugar
• 2½ Cups (12½ ounces) all-purpose flour
• 2½ Teaspoons baking powder
• 1 Teaspoon salt
• 2 Large eggs
• 4 Tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter
• ¼ Cup vegetable oil
• 1 Cup buttermilk * *
• 1½ Teaspoons vanilla extract

• * Do not substitute frozen blueberries for fresh in this recipe. To use frozen blueberries, use our recipe for Best Blueberry Muffins with Frozen Blueberries on the Additional Recipes page of the Resources section.
• * * If buttermilk is unavailable, substitute ¾ cup plain whole-milk or low-fat yogurt thinned with ¼ cup milk.

Tools

• Rasp grater
• Dry measuring cups
• Measuring spoons
• Liquid measuring cup
• Small microwave-safe bowl
• Wooden spoon
• 2 small mixing bowls
• Muffin tin
• Small saucepan
• Large mixing bowl
• Whisk
• Medium mixing bowl
• Rubber spatula
• Ice cream scoop *
• Chopsticks or wooden skewers
• Wire rack

• * You may also use a large spoon here.

Step By Step

1. Pick over 2 cups (10 ounces) fresh blueberries.

2. Melt 4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter. Set aside to cool.

3. Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees. Spray standard muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray.

4. FOR TOPPING: Using rasp grater, finely grate 1½ teaspoons zest from 1 lemon. Transfer to small bowl. Stir in ⅓ cup (2⅓ ounces) sugar until combined. Set aside.

5. FOR MUFFINS: Bring 1 cup blueberries and 1 teaspoon sugar to simmer in small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, mashing berries with wooden spoon several times and stirring frequently, until berries have broken down and mixture is reduced to ¼ cup, about 6 minutes.

6. Transfer to small bowl and cool to room temperature, 10 to 15 minutes.

7. Meanwhile, whisk 2½ cups (12½ ounces) all-purpose flour, 2½ teaspoons baking powder, and 1 teaspoon salt together in large bowl.

8. Whisk remaining 1⅛ cups (8 ounces) sugar and 2 large eggs together in medium bowl until thick and homogeneous, about 45 seconds.

9. Slowly whisk in melted butter and ¼ cup vegetable oil until combined. Whisk in 1 cup buttermilk and 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract until combined.

10. Using rubber spatula, fold egg mixture and remaining 1 cup blueberries into flour mixture until just moistened. (Batter will be lumpy with streaks of flour; don’t overmix.)

11. Using ice cream scoop or large spoon, divide batter equally among prepared muffin cups (batter should completely fill cups and mound slightly).

12. Spoon teaspoon of cooked berry mixture into center of each mound of batter.

13. Using chopstick or skewer, gently swirl berry filling into batter using figure-eight motion.

14. Sprinkle lemon sugar evenly over muffins.

15. Bake until muffin tops are golden and just firm, 17 to 19 minutes, rotating muffin tin from front to back halfway through baking time.

16. Cool muffins in muffin tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack and cool 5 minutes before serving.

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Savory Corn Muffins

Why this recipe works:

For a corn muffin with great cornmeal flavor and proper muffin structure, we used a ratio of 2 parts cornmeal to 1 part flour. We ditched the copious amount of sugar found in most recipes for a truly savory muffin. To help make up for the moisture that sugar normally provides, we used a mix of milk, butter, and sour cream for the right amount of water and fat. Finally, in order to get extra liquid into the batter, we precooked a portion of the cornmeal with additional milk to make a polenta-like porridge. By hydrating and gelling the starch in the cornmeal, we trapped free water and produced a supermoist muffin.

Makes 12 Muffins

We developed this recipe with our preferred cornmeal, Arrowhead Mills Organic Yellow Cornmeal. Other cornmeals will work in the recipe, but don’t use coarse-ground or white cornmeal.

Ingredients

• 2 cups (10 ounces) cornmeal
• 1 cup (5 ounces) all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 1 1/4 cups whole milk
• 1 cup sour cream
• 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 2 large eggs, beaten

Instructions

1. 
   
   1. Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees. Grease 12-cup muffin tin. Whisk 1 1/2 cups cornmeal, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in medium bowl.
   2. Combine milk and remaining 1/2 cup cornmeal in large bowl. Microwave milk-cornmeal mixture for 1 1/2 minutes. Whisk thoroughly and continue to microwave, whisking every 30 seconds, until thickened to batter-like consistency (whisk will leave channel in bottom of bowl that slowly fills in), 1 to 3 minutes longer. Whisk in sour cream, melted butter, and sugar until combined. Whisk in eggs until combined. Fold in flour mixture until thoroughly combined. Using portion scoop or large spoon, divide batter evenly among prepared muffin cups (about 1/2 cup batter per cup; batter will mound slightly above rim).
   3. Bake until tops are golden brown and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 13 to 17 minutes, rotating muffin tin halfway through baking. Let muffins cool in muffin tin on wire rack for 5 minutes. Remove muffins from muffin tin and let cool 5 minutes longer. Serve warm.

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