Classic Blueberry Muffins
August 21, 2010
Categories:
Basics, Breakfast, Dough & Desserts, Local Eating, Recipes, Seasons, Summer
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Today, I got a taste of the end of summer: no more Texas blueberries at the grocery store. They stopped showing up at the farmers’ market a while back, but even the farmers in cooler stretches of the state have ended their season as well. I’ve stockpiled a few frozen pints, and can honestly say I’ve enjoyed this blueberry season to the fullest. I haven’t baked as much of them as in years past, enjoying them by the handful instead. It’s not a luxury I can afford much later than August here in Texas.
For those of you living in cooler climates, where the bushes are still bearing fruit, I suggest a Saturday afternoon spent with this batter. These muffins would be a happy ending to any small fruit, but I love blue ones the best—raspberries run, blackberries are too big for anything but a pie or crumble, and gooseberries are just too hard to come by. Dried fruit is nice, but nothing beats a fresh blueberry. I had a few extra pints on hand, and figured I could freeze some of the batter as a more interesting form of preservation.
Even if you’re in the northernmost tip of Maine and see yourself in blueberry season until September, I suggest you make these at your earliest convenience. Baking with blueberries gets me just about as happy as I can be: like swinging on the big tree in the front yard, surrounded by fireflies. Memory makes the most wonderful things eternal—even if they can’t last forever.
Goodbye, fresh bluettes. See you in June.
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Classic Blueberry Muffins
Makes 12
Adapted from Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook
½ c (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ t baking powder
½ t salt
2 cups fresh blueberries
1 ½ cups sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
½ cup plain yogurt
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
12 muffin liners
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Preheat oven to 375. Line a standard muffin tin with 12 liners.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.
In a small bowl, toss blueberries with 1½ teaspoons of flour.
Beat butter and 1 ¼ c sugar until creamy and aerated. (About 5 minutes with a stand or electric mixer.)
Add eggs, one at a time, mixing until combined.
Add vanilla and yogurt and mix.
Slowly add in flour mixture, stirring until just combined.
Gently fold in blueberries using rubber spatula.
Divide batter evenly into muffin tin.
Just before baking, combine remaining ¼ sugar and cinnamon, and sprinkle over muffins.
Bake for 15 minutes, and rotate pan. Bake an additional 10 minutes and test for doneness.(Muffins are cooked when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.)
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