Blueberry muffins really have not been my favorite muffin variety. Nothing against them, but I usually would rather eat a more exciting muffin.... Actually, raisin bran muffins are typically my favorite. Or pumpkin. And most often, I’d rather eat a scone than a muffin. But I recently developed a craving for muffins. Specifically, blueberry muffins.
Blueberries themselves are one of my very favorite fruits. I’ll sit and eat an entire container of them until they’re gone--perfect summertime meal or snack. Most often, fresh blueberries get eaten before they can be used in baked goods. But when I saw blueberries on a fantastic sale at the grocery store, I bought two packages: one for eating and one for muffins.
On my birthday last year, I made confetti cake waffles for breakfast. While they were amazingly delicious, they also were so rich that the practically put me into a sugar coma for the rest of the day. This year, instead, I decided to satisfy the craving and make blueberry muffins.
I found found an intriguing recipe from one of my favorite cookbooks (which shall remain nameless). I was very interested in the recipe because it included a good amount of pecan flour (and I just happened to have pecan flour in the freezer).
I gathered the necessary ingredients (mis-en-place) and mixed the batter. It seemed quite a bit thicker than I thought a muffin recipe should be. I double checked the ingredients & no, I hadn’t forgotten anything or mis-measured. So, I added a splash more milk. I portioned the the still-thick-batter into the lined muffin pan. I baked the muffins.
When I pulled them from the oven, I could immediately tell there was a flaw in the recipe. The muffins failed to spread or puff at all. They looked pretty terrible & they didn’t taste great either. Fail. Even sadder, birthday fail :( And, I was STILL craving blueberry muffins!
Since then, I’ve searched through many additional recipes, searching for the perfect “redemption muffin” recipe. And I think I’ve found it. A slightly sweet, slightly caky muffin, bursting with blueberries. The flavor and fragrance from the addition of almond extract is a lovely touch too.
The original recipe includes an almond streusel topping, but I didn’t have enough butter on hand to make it. Honestly, I didn’t miss the streusel one bit! Shock--usually I’m a huge streusel fan! The muffin was delicious without it. Blueberry muffin redemption has been found! I may have eaten three of them for breakfast that day....
Blueberry Muffins (adapted to be gluten free)
adapted from Williams Sonoma Taste
Yields 9 muffins
157 g Gluten Free Flour (I used my favorite blend; or if you’re not GF, use regular AP flour)
78 g Granulated Sugar
1/4 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 tsp Baking Soda
1/4 tsp Fine Grain Sea Salt
pinch Nutmeg, freshly grated
4 fl oz Buttermilk
1 ea Eggs
38 g Unsalted Butter, melted & slightly cooled
1/4 tsp Vanilla Extract
scant 1/4 tsp Almond Extract
110 g Blueberries, fresh (plus a little extra, if desired)
- Preheat the oven to 400 F. Line a muffin pan with 9 papers. Optional: lightly spray the bottoms of the liners with non-stick spray.
- If not already done, heat the butter in the microwave until just barely melted. Set aside to cool slightly while gathering the remaining ingredients.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. Measure the buttermilk into a liquid measuring cup. To that cup, add the egg, butter, & extract. Gently whisk to combine.
- Pour the liquid into the dry ingredients. Stir half-way and add the blueberries. Very gently stir until combined, trying not to smash the blueberries in the progress.
- Use a portion scoop to divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups. If you notice the bottom of the batter is low on blueberries, throw in a few extras
- Bake for approximately 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin (and not into a blueberry) comes out almost clean with just a few crumbs sticking to it.
- Cool slightly and serve. Store any cooled leftovers in an airtight container for a day, or in the refrigerator for several days (due to the fruit content).
Note: You can substitute frozen blueberries for the fresh ones. Just add them to the batter frozen (even frozen they may dye the batter a bit blue) and increase the baking time by a few minutes.
Can you please list alternate metric conversion amounts in recipe and not just amount in grams? It would be so helpful. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteI work almost exclusively with weights in recipes because it is SO much more accurate. I try to include volume measurements where I can, but unfortunately I do not have the time (or ingredient budget) to go back and convert previous posts. I highly recommend that anyone who is interested in baking invest in a kitchen scale! A good scale isn't expensive & it can make a world of difference!
ReplyDeleteLaura, I am lactose intolerant and my daughter is gluten free. In order to make these so that I can eat them can I use coconut almond milk? I have this for cereal for myself but haven't used it much in my baking. Usually I just use water when liquid is called for. I was also wondering if I should put in a little vinegar to work with the soda, as I assume that is what the buttermilk is doing? Just asking as I am not sure.Thank you for any help you could give. ~ Colleen
ReplyDeleteI would give coconut milk a try & add either a splash of vinegar or lemon juice to mimic the buttermilk. I'm not exactly sure if the ending muffins will be exactly the same, but I think it would still be successful :) Let me know how it works?
DeleteJust wanted you to know I made the muffins for my daughter. She came to visit this weekend. She loved them and was thrilled as she hasn't had a homemade muffin in quite a while!! I used the coconut almond milk as I didn't have a can of coconut milk. I also added 1 Tlbs of lemon juice in the measure cup before I added the milk. My oldest son came through while the muffins were cooling and I was out of the kitchen. He ate one. When I came back in he asked, "Was I supposed to eat one of these?" I laughed and said they were for his sister. He said, "Oh, they are gluten free? I never would have guessed." Bingo! I call that success. Thanks for a great recipe and the extra help.
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