Blueberry Muffins

Yum

You roll over when your alarm goes off, trying to scrape your eyes open after being up all night with a fussy baby.  Oh goodness.  Is it really time to get up?  You pull on the first clothes you can find while stumbling around in the dark, and you spill coffee on your shirt on your way out the door toting kids, diaper bag, purse, and backpack.  On the way to school your son says, “Mommy, I was supposed to do this huge art project for school today, and I forgot to do it.”  Sigh.  Some mornings are just plain cruel.

Or . . . you wake up, ready to face a rough morning, and then you remember . . . you made perfect, easy blueberry muffins last night!  You leap out of bed and whisk together an outfit.  You spin your kids into clothes, pack up the bookbags, and brew yourself a big cup of coffee.  You don’t spill it.  And as you take a bite of your sparkling, delicious muffin, you just smile to yourself.  Who knew that something so easy could make your day . . . so right?

These little beauties are ready in a flash and so simple that (shhhhh . . .) even your kids can help make them!  And with one of these lovelies to kick-start your morning, even all-nighters might become a touch more bearable.

What are we waiting for?  Let’s do this!

Blueberry Muffins

Ingredients:

3 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 cup white sugar

1 tsp. salt

4 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1 cup oil

2 eggs, beaten

1 cup buttermilk

2 tsp. vanilla

2 cups fresh blueberries

Turbinado sugar, for sprinkling tops of muffins (optional)

Directions:

Whisk together flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  In a separate bowl whisk together oil, eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla.  Add wet ingredients all at once to dry ingredients and fold ingredients about 15 times with a spatula (there will still be flour clumps).  Add in blueberries and fold 4-5 more times.  It’s OK to have some clumps in the batter, but you shouldn’t have any large pockets of unmixed flour.  Fill muffin cups 1/8″ from the tops of muffin papers and sprinkle tops with turbinado sugar, if desired.  Place muffins in preheated 425 degree oven for 5 minutes only. Without opening the oven change the temperature to 375 and bake for 15-20 minutes more.  Check muffins for doneness and bake for a few minutes more if needed until they pass the toothpick test.  Cool before serving.

Now, in pictures! 🙂

I just love muffins.  You can whip up a batch in a flash and pull warm, delicious muffins from the oven to serve with coffee when you get unexpected company. Yes.  Quick breads are awesome.  And they are SO easy to make!  Start out by whisking together your dry ingredients.  Whisking these ingredients just helps to make sure that your spices and baking powder are equally distributed throughout the mix.  That way you won’t get one muffin with a short complex because he didn’t take a nip at the baking powder fountain of youth.  You’re welcome.

Next I whisk together the wet ingredients in a separate bowl and add them, all at once, to the dry ingredients.

But why can’t I mix my ingredients one by one?  You’re so controlling!  I want a baking DIVORCE!!!!

Well I’ll tell you why.  If you overmix muffins, they become dense and tough– kind of like your attitude. *stern librarian look*  Hehe.  Just kidding.

When you add the ingredients all at once you don’t need to stir as much, so your muffins will be light and fluffy and tender.  I use a silicone spatula and fold the ingredients (kind of “turning” the batter over and around itself, without stirring) 15 times.  It won’t seem like 15 “folds” is nearly enough.  There will still be definite flour lumps in the batter.  Don’t stress.  Tell your OCD to go to sleep and leave the lumps.  Trust me on this.

Next add in your blueberries and fold 4-5 more times.  There will still be some small lumps in the batter, but that’s OK.  As long as you don’t have any HUGE pockets of flour, you’re good.

No. You’re not good.  You’re GREAT.

😉  Fill your muffin cups about 1/8″ from the tops of the muffin cups. I always use a muffin scoop (my favorite for muffins and scones is the blue one here).  That way you don’t have batter dribbling all over the muffin tin, and your muffins are all the same size.  Plus, it’s like, ten times quicker to fill the muffin cups.  (Well, maybe not TEN times quicker, but it definitely streamlines the process.  And when going to the bathroom alone with the door closed is a luxury, every second counts. You’re welcome).

Sprinkle the tops of your muffins with turbinado sugar.  This extra coarse sugar just gives your beauties a little extra “sparkle.”  They will have a cute, glittery crust and a nice crunch when you eat them.  Plus, a little extra sugar is always a welcome addition, in my book.  😉

The key to the nice, bakery-style dome on your muffins is a little puff of heat right at the beginning of the baking time, and then lowering the heat to finish baking.  Give the muffins 5 minutes at 425 and then WITHOUT opening the oven, turn the heat to 375 and bake for another 15-20 minutes.  At that point check your muffins for doneness with the “toothpick test.”  Every oven is a little different, so use your judgment.  I did jumbo muffins, and I needed the full 20 minutes after adjusting the heat, and then another 3-4 minutes after that.  Little muffins don’t take quite as long.  Just keep an eye on them and pull them when the toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean (a few moist crumbs are OK– but there shouldn’t be any liquid batter).

Now, here is the part where I’m supposed to tell you to let the muffins “completely cool before serving.”  But of course, we can all chuckle at that statement, because the best part about muffins is taking a huge bite of one, when they are still warm from the oven.  So pour yourself a big, steaming cup of coffee.  Pull up a chair to the kitchen table, and actually have breakfast.  Read that book that you’ve had sitting on the counter for 2 years.  Look out the window at the birds.  Watch the sunrise.  Or just enjoy this moment– that little oasis of “me time” before you jump into another busy day.

You did it.  And I’m just so proud of you.

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