Blueberry Muffins: Round 2

There was no melty blueberry goodness in round 1. There was no inviting perspiration in round 1. This muffin brought it.

Aptly titled, the "To Die For Blueberry Muffins" are a serious front runner in my quest to find the best blueberry muffin recipe, ever. I think I may have to limit myself to three challengers ( and, I might pick a wimp for the third try so this one can win.) These were so moist, dense, and delicious... no residue but I'm starting to think that might be a good thing.

Something of note: the batter was like glue, keeping the berries from sinking to the bottom which I didn't even know I cared about until I realized I fully appreciated the even distribution. So, I checked back to round 1 muffins... there's no comparison.

(Oh, sorry about round 1, Trisha Yearwood. For what it's worth, I really liked your baked beans recipe and I sang "She's in love with the boy" for about three years straight....)

I found this recipe thanks to the fine community of Allrecipes.com I really like that there's a strong following at allrecipes.com providing invaluable information on how the recipes turn out, along with modification suggestions. I followed some advice and cut down the quantity of the crumb topping and did a 1/2 c. brown sugar + 1/4 c. white sugar mix ( instead of the 3/4 c. white sugar called for...this is because I ran out of white sugar.)


Crumb topping? Yes, that's right... and all was right with the world.











I'm not kidding. These are scary good. Seriously, look at this face I found in my evenly distributed berries...

Scary Good Blueberry Muffins

Source: Adapted from "To Die For Blueberry Muffins" by Colleen on Allrecipes.com
Yield- 7 big muffins

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• one large egg, beaten
• approximately 1/3 cup milk ( you'll see why the approximation)
• 1 cup fresh blueberries

For the topping:

• 1/8 cup white sugar
• 1/8 cup unsalted butter, cubed ( 1/4 stick)
• 1/8 cup flour
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line muffin tin with muffin liners.

2. Combine flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder in a bowl.

3. Add 1/3 cup vegetable oil and egg in a 1 cup measuring cup. Add milk until the total volume of all wet ingredients is 1 cup. Add wet ingredients to flour/sugar mix, gently stirring until dry ingredients are just blended.

4. Fold in blueberries then spoon into muffin tin.

5. To make crumb topping, cut the sugar, flour, butter, and cinnamon together in a small bowl with a fork until a coarse meal forms.

6. Top muffins with crumb mixture and bake at 400 degrees for 5 minutes then lower temperature to 350 and bake an additional 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. ( The temperature change makes the outside crumb crust a bit crispy while preventing burning...I'm getting the hang of this.)

Blueberry Muffins- Round 1

I dig a good blueberry muffin... the ones that are super moist, chewy, and leave a little residue in your mouth for hours after you eat them. The tops are sometimes sticky, too. Yeah, those ones.


As I sit here on this bitter cold Sunday (the first day I've had to actually sit and chill since the year started) I found myself craving the above. With a pint of blueberries in the fridge, WHY THE HECK NOT? Exactly. I mean, nevermind the fact that I gained 10 pounds over the last month eating every cookie and confection in sight. Oh, and nevermind that every gadget I have is on the fritz and not configured properly. You know how they say never make three major life changes in one year? Well, I think that should include technological devices...trust me, switching a computer, a cell phone, and cable service in the same week is bad news for post-holiday destress.

Anyway, about the muffins.

These Blueberry muffins were made with Trisha Yearwood's recipe in "Georgia Cooking in an Oklahoma Kitchen." They're good but not what I was after... remember the residue of which I spoke? Not happening here. However, you might find these up your alley if your style of muffin is light, moist, and more breadlike. I consider these a success either way since I didn't burn them.

Nevertheless, the quest for my dream blueberry muffin is now on.

Blueberry Muffins

Source: Georgia Cooking in an Oklahoma Kitchen by Trisha Yearwood

Yeild: 16-18 muffins

Ingredients

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 Tbsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup ( 1 stick) melted butter
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries

1. Preheat oven to 350 and place liners in your muffin tin.

2. Sift dry ingredients together in a medium size mixing bowl . Make a well in the center and add butter, milk , eggs, and vanilla, stirring just enough to moisten the flour. Gently fold in blueberries.

3. Spoon batter into the lined muffin tin. Bake 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in a muffin comes out clean.

OH, hey! If you have a blueberry muffin recipe you think I'll like, hook me up! Thanks.