Breakfast / Brunch / Sweet

Bakery-Worthy Blueberry Muffins

img_0436I have been on a total blueberry kick lately. A friend brought some blueberries over a couple weeks ago when her daughter came over to play with Prim and I haven’t been able to get enough since. Never mind that it’s not exactly blueberry season and they certainly aren’t the cheapest item in the produce department right now — this pregnant belly doesn’t care. Just give me all the blueberries.

The recipe below is a slight adaption of the America’s Test Kitchen recipe for blueberry muffins, and I will tell you right now — it’s the only blueberry muffin recipe you’ll ever need. These muffins are straight-up bakery status. They are soft and moist on the inside and crispy and full on top — everything you could want out of a blueberry muffin.

If you need an impressive contribution to a breakfast or brunch spread, or simply something delicious to have with your afternoon coffee — these muffins are it. And I really wish these photographs did these muffins justice, but they don’t — they look amazing in person and taste even better.img_0434

Blueberry Muffins

makes 12 muffins

For the muffins:

  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 4 tbsp butter, melted and cooled
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 3/4 cup plain yogurt
  • 1/4 cup milk
  • 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 cup blueberries, rinsed and picked over
  • 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp salt

For the quick jam:

  • 1 cup blueberries, rinsed and picked over
  • 1 tsp sugar

For the topping:

  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • grated zest of one lemon (about 1 1/2 tsp)
  1. Stir together lemon zest and sugar for topping and set aside.
  2. Preheat oven to 425°.
  3. Make a quick blueberry jam by combining 1 cup of blueberries with 1 tsp sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat. Using a wooden spoon, stir and smash the berries along the side of the pan until they have reduced by about half and become syrupy — about 4-5 minutes. Set aside to cool.
  4. Whisk together eggs and sugar until pale yellow and fluffy. Whisk in oil and melted butter, followed by milk, yogurt and vanilla extract, then fold in blueberries with a spatula. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt, then add dry ingredients to wet, stirring just to combine. (Do not over mix — batter should be slightly lumpy.)
  5. Spoon batter into 12 greased muffin cups, filling to the top. Add 1 tsp of the quick blueberry jam to the top of each muffin and use a skewer or knife to swirl it into the muffin. Sprinkle the top of each muffin with lemon sugar until well-covered.
  6. Bake 15-17 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Notes:

  • You will probably only need about half the of the sugar topping for these, so feel free to scale that down. Add more sugar to the top of the muffins that you think you should, though — it makes for a great crispy top!
  • These are really best the day that you make them, so I would suggest making them the day you plan on consuming them, to the extent possible. They will keep overnight wrapped in plastic or in an airtight container.