Our Favorite Blueberry Muffins

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Our Favorite Blueberry Muffins

star rating (42) rate this recipe »
Published prior to 2008

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 and almond extracts, 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

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  • star rating 04/06/2012
  • martibeth from KAF Community
  • I have made these muffins countless times, and for me they are done right around the 23-24 minute mark. For those who find these muffins dry, I would suggest trying again, just cutting back on the baking time, and checking doneness with a toothpick at 23 minutes. Also, I don't usually wait the entire 10 minutes as recommended, before I remove them from the pan. At about 6 or 7 minutes, I'll carefully try to remove one muffin using a butter knife. These are truly the best blueberry muffins you will find. Also, use wild Maine blueberries (You can find Wyman's frozen wild Maine blueberries in Wal-Mart or Costco). Using the tiny blueberries makes all the difference in the world.
  • star rating 03/01/2012
  • Julian from New York
  • I love the idea of using whole wheat and fresh fruit, but I found this recipe to be dry. In one of the other comments, someone mentioned that this might be a result of baking for too long - well, I did leave them in the oven until they started turning somewhat golden brown (five minutes more) because my muffins were PALE after 30 minutes. Should I have taken them out as were?
    It will partly depend on how the muffins tested with a cake tester. If they test done but are still a little light, you should take them out to avoid drying them out. If they aren't testing quite done yet, you can leave them in to brown a bit more. MJR @ KAF
  • star rating 02/23/2012
  • janelope from KAF Community
  • I didn't care for these muffins. I made them exactly as the recipe was written, but I thought the whole wheat flavor was too strong. Maybe I just shouldn't be making healthy muffins! I do have to say that they were very tender, but somehow the flavor was not to my liking.
  • star rating 01/29/2012
  • Shannon from Idaho
  • I followed this recipe exactly except I added a TBLS. wheat bran for an even healthier muffin, but the muffins turned out really dry. I only baked them for 24 minutes, I wonder if I bake them to long, even thought the recipe said 25-30 mins. I have a gas oven. I think next time I will add some applesauce or sour cream to help make them more moist. I thought the texture was nice tough. I am hoping that by wrapping them in plastic wrap and putting them in the refrigerator over night will help make them more moist. Also I will add more almond extract next time, I could barely taste it.
    Ah - The quest for healthier baked goods! White whole wheat flour works well in many all purpose flour recipes. For each cup of white whole wheat used, you'll need to increase the liquid by 1 tablespoon. Even your bran addition may have tipped the balance of the wet and dry ingredients in your variation, making those muffins dry. The important thing is to keep baking to get your baked products to meet your expectations! Irene @ KAF
  • star rating 01/15/2012
  • jplumhof from KAF Community
  • I made these this morning and they were great! I didn't do the cinnamon-sugar on top and I used frozen blueberries. The almond extract adds a really nice flavor. I love that the muffins aren't crazy sweet. This is definitely going in my recipe book.
  • star rating 12/03/2011
  • Michelle from Phoenix, AZ
  • This recipe is delicious! It is hard to make yummy baked goods I used gluten-free flours because I'm allergic to wheat and gluten. I used an egg substitute because I'm allergic to eggs as well. I used Soy-Free Earth Balance natural buttery spread for the butter because I'm allergic to dairy too. It was very easy to make and loved by all! Doesn't taste 'different' as most food does when made with substitutions! Great!
  • star rating 11/20/2011
  • Jessica from Kensington, MD
  • These were great!! I exchanged 1 cup of wheat flour for 1 cup of almond meal. Very good! Might use a tad less sugar and almond meal. I also used an almond emulsion extract which made these out of this world!
  • star rating 10/21/2011
  • Carissa from Independence, MO
  • These turned out so great! I doubled the recipe and used my scale to measure the flour which I ground right before I mixed. I used coconut extract instead of almond and loved it. They spread out over the edge of the muffin pan cups a bit, but still raised well in the end and were very moist. Next time I'll try with some yogurt for less fat and higher rise. This recipe earned a spot inside my cabinet door for quick reference!
  • star rating 09/28/2011
  • Charlotte from North Carolina
  • I followed the recipe exactly, but found these muffins to be dry. Perhaps I should add a touch more milk next time, or split the flour with regular white flour? Otherwise, the taste was great.
    I am sorry to hear these turned out dry for you. This could be a result of over-baking or having too much flour in the batter. To ensure accuracy, we recommend measuring flour by volume with the following method: http://bit.ly/iL7FTF ~Amy
  • star rating 07/21/2011
  • lunchboxgirl from KAF Community
  • I make these for my whole family--as mini muffins for my toddlers' snacks and full size for myself and husband for breakfast on the go. I max out the blueberries at 2 cups and recently tried substituting 2 T of the butter for 2 T of lowfat yogurt. They still taste great, even with slightly less fat! (I remembered reading on a diff. post that the yogurt helps with leavening and this did make them noticably higher, I thought.)
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