Blueberry Muffins

Blueberry muffins are a classic comfort food. I grew up making muffins at least every few weeks. A basic muffin recipe was probably the first recipe I ever memorized, and it happened to be the same one we used in my 6th grade home ec class! While that was a versatile recipe that worked with any number of add-ons (cherry pie filling, chocolate chips, of course, blueberries!), this recipe caught my attention as an adult. It doesn’t use the classic muffin method of combining ingredients-it’s more of a cookie start. The original recipe (don’t recall where I found it–it’s been hand copied into my frequently used recipe book from the pre-internet days) also included a streusel topping. I felt like these were decadent enough without. You, of course, can add it if you want to.

To begin, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Wash and dry the blueberries and set aside.

In a medium bowl, cream the butter and sugar. See, just like cookies!

Next, beat in the eggs and vanilla.

Next, it’s time for the dry ingredients. The instructions state to mix them all together and add in the flour mixture. I often mix in the smaller ingredients, here baking powder, salt, and freshly grated nutmeg, before adding the flour.

Of course, you can use regular nutmeg from a jar. But I have learned that nutmegs are not that expensive. A bag of 3 is about 79 cents in the Hispanic aisle of Food Lion and similarly priced at the International food store. One nutmeg will last a really long time unless you have one of those incidents where you go to grate it and drop the whole thing into your dough. I have never done this. (and if you believe that….)

Mix in the flour. Then fold in the lemon yogurt. This yogurt and the nutmeg are what really make this recipe special. These are beyond the flavors of basic muffins.

Fold in the blueberries. I left mine in a colander in the sink so they could dry. Some people suggest adding a coat of flour to the blueberries so they don’t sink to the bottom of the muffin, but I haven’t had too many sinking issues with this recipe.

Next, it’s time to fill individual muffin cups with dough. I usually use cupcake liners. Please forgive that mine are Halloween themed in March. It’s definitely use what you have in the pantry time, not run to to the store to get neutral ones (I did obtain some neutral ones during a recent shopping trip, so the Halloween ones are safely back in the pantry for now). Most traditional muffin recipes make about a dozen, but this one makes 18ish. Not pictured are my 2 pans with 6 spots–one full and the other with 2 filled.

The baking instructions are a little weird. Bake at 400 degree for 10 minutes. Then reduce heat to 375 and bake 10 minutes more. So, total bake time of about 20 minutes (normal) but with 2 different temperatures.

The Recipe!

3 C. fresh blueberries (I suppose frozen would work but I’ve not tried this)

2 1/4 C. flour

1 Tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg (I never measure since I grate my own–3-4 grates is enough)

3/4 C. butter, room temperature (1.5 sticks)

1 C. sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

8 oz. lemon yogurt

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Wash and dry blueberries. In medium bowl, mix flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg.
2. Beat butter and sugar. Add eggs, beating after each. Add vanilla, beat until fluffy. Stir in half of the flour mixture and yogurt. Stir in remaining flour. Fold in blueberries.
3. Fill muffin cups. Bake 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 375 degrees. Bake 10 minutes more.