Our Favorite Blueberry Muffins
This is the ne plus ultra of blueberry muffins, the imaginary blue ribbon winner at the state fair, the top of the blueberry muffin heap. Based on a "famous department store" recipe (remember the Famous Department Store Chocolate Chip Cookies?), this recipe produces meltingly tender muffins, chock-full of berries and gilded with a light cinnamon-sugar topping.
6 tablespoons (3 ounces) butter
3/4 cup (5 1/4 ounces) sugar
2 large eggs
2 cups (8 1/2 ounces) King Arthur 100% Organic White Whole Wheat Flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1 1/2 to 2 cups (about 1 pint) blueberries, either fresh or frozen, wild Maine berries preferred
1 tablespoon sugar mixed with 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
Preheat your oven to 375°F. Grease 12 muffin cups generously; a vegetable oil pan spray works well.
In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until they're light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture, and beat well. Stir in the milk and vanilla. mixing only until smooth. Quickly stir in the berries. Note that frozen berries will probably turn your muffins blue, while fresh will keep the cake part golden.
Fill the muffin cups 3/4 to almost full, using all of the batter. Sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar. Bake the muffins for 25 to 30 minutes, until they're light golden brown, remove them from the oven, and place the pan on a rack to cool for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, run a knife around the edge of one muffin, and try to lift it out of the pan. (These muffins are very tender, and if they don't cool long enough, they'll crumble when you try to remove them from the pan.) If the muffin lifts out of the pan without crumbling, remove all of the muffins and cool them completely on a wire rack. If the muffin sticks or the top peels off, allow them to cool an additional 10 minutes, then try again. Yield: 12 muffins.
Nutritional information per serving (1 muffin, 84g): 202 cal, 7.1g fat, 4g protein, 18g complex carbohydrates, 13g sugar, 1g dietary fiber, 63mg cholesterol, 179mg sodium, 72mg potassium, 78RE vitamin A, 3mg vitamin C, 1mg iron, 95mg calcium, 59mg phosphorus.
Reviews
05/30/2009
The epitome of "blueberry muffin," these are incredibly tender, moist and full of flavor. Don't skip the almond extract! (And don't use paper liners in your muffin pan, these will stick to the paper, since they are so tender, but they will certainly slide right out of a well-greased pan.) In addition, these are easy, easy, easy to make. It's no wonder they are "our favorite blueberry muffins" (my husband and kids agree). Perfect!
Kelly - Glad to see you are enjoying this recipe! Try spraying the inside of your muffin papers if you would like to use them. Elisabeth @ KAF
06/06/2009
This is my all time favorite blueberry muffin recipe! I got it from the baking sheet years ago and the only change I see here is that the almond extract I have always added is now part of the recipe. Good call on that, it makes the recipe. These are simple, delicious and full of flavor. I have used fresh and frozen berries with terrific results. It is stored in my head now and I can whip these up in just a few minutes if I have softened butter on hand.
07/25/2009
These muffins are by far the *BEST* blueberry muffins I've ever produced-and I've been making muffins from scratch for 14 years. My previous attempts at blueberry muffins never quite hit the mark~usually they came out a bit soggy and very crumbly. The texture on these is perfect! They make a beautiful presentation, and the taste is out of this world~thanks, King Arhtur!!
09/13/2009
So delicious!
09/29/2009
This is the best muffin recipe I've ever tried! I've used it twice now with great results each time! I'm not a big fan of the almond flavor, so the second time I substituted the same amount of lemon oil - fabulous! Thanks for the great tips on getting them out of the pan - I used cooking spray on my silicone pans, waited the specified 10 minutes and they came out without any tearing!
10/26/2009
I've never tried a recipe and it came out "perfect" the first time! These muffins are absolutely delicious, moist; even better warm. They didn't get hard or crusty after the first day. I made them for a friend, decided to taste one and now I have to make another batch! I'm looking for more recipes to try.
01/01/2010
These came out perfect! I used frozen blueberries I had picked in the summer. I didn't add the almond because it doesn't mention it in the recipe....so I missed it, either that or I skipped it. I was using my laptop on my counter. Anyhow it didn't make a difference. A great addition to my New Years Day breakfast. I sprayed the paper cups and they came out fine. No problem getting them out of the tin either. Enjoy! They are delicious.
01/07/2010
The texture of these muffins is good, but I found them a tiny bit dry. Not horribly dry, just a tad. I think there is a little something missing on the flavor, too. Not sure what it is, just something. I would recommend this to others and will make them again. I might just tweak them a little next time.
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