Blueberry muffins

Homemade blueberry muffins

     I've been feeling a little blue today so decided to make some muffins to cheer myself up (I can't be the only one who bakes to make herself feel good, am I?).  I have been thinking about making blueberry muffins for months, and thought that today should be the day to make some homemade muffins and, in the process, use up another item from my pantry (the blueberries from the freezer and some frozen whey I had).

Look at all the blueberry goodness...

Blueberry muffins (from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything)

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons melted butter

2 cups AP flour

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 egg

1 cup milk (I used frozen whey from my cheese-making)

1 cup frozen blueberries

1/2 teaspoon lemon zest

Procedure: 

1) Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.  Grease a standard 12 compartment muffin tin.

2) Mix together the dry ingredients in a bowl.  Beat together the egg, milk, and butter.  Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients into it  Using a large spoon or rubber spatula, combine the ingredients swiftly, stirring and folding rather than beating, and stopping as soon as all the dry ingredients are moistened.  The batter should be lumpy, not smooth, and thick but quite moist; add a little more milk or other liquid if necessary.

3) Stir 1 cup of fresh blueberries and 1/2 teaspoon of lemon zest into the batter at the last minute.  You can also use frozen blueberries here; do not defrost them first.

4) Spoon the batter into the muffin tins, filling them about two-thirds full and handling the batter as little as possible. (If you prefer bigger muffins, fill the cups almost to the top.  Pour 1/4 cup water into those cups left empty).  Bake 20 to 30 minutes, or until the muffins are nicely browned and a toothpick inserted in to the center of one of them comes out clean.  Remove from the oven and let rest for 5 minutes before taking them out of the tin. Serve warm.

     And that was it.  It came together in a breeze and was a very delicious treat that I could share with everyone.  These are homemade muffins as I like them: fresh, moist, not too sweet, not too large, and filled with juicy blueberries that pop in your mouth.  I honestly forgot to add the lemon zest on this round and it still came out delicious.  My only regret is I've rediscovered how easy it is to make homemade muffins... a dangerous thing when you're sheltering in place at home most of the time!