Blueberry Muffins

Blueberry muffins are, to me, a quintessential breakfast food. I started making blueberry muffins at a pretty young age. At the time I used Bisquick, which I must admit, I used for many of my baking endeavors. (Honestly, it wasn’t until I got much older that I discovered waffles I liked better than those made with Bisquick. And if I’m being really honest, I still love Bisquick pancakes, even if I almost never eat them.)

As I’ve gotten older and into more complicated baking, I’ve experimented with many different recipes for blueberry muffins. Some used butter, other used vegetable oil. Some used fresh blueberries, others frozen. Pretty much all of them were tasty, but I’ve never quite found “the one” – at least not with regards to a blueberry muffin recipe.

This morning, in honor of a friend who is visiting from out of town, I tried another recipe for blueberry muffins. This recipe called for a little butter and a lot of sour cream. I’m of the opinion that sour cream makes just about anything taste better – especially baked goods – so I was intrigued from the get-go. I also liked that you could use either fresh or frozen berries for these muffins. I always have frozen blueberries on hand, so I was good to go.

These muffins had a few more steps than many of the recipes I’ve tried in the past, but they were all very simple. The batter came together quickly and easily. And while I’ve never been tempted to try raw muffin batter before, I was today. Deeeelicous. Seriously, if you’re not afraid of a little raw egg, lick the bowl or spatula when you’re done. I won’t tell. The batter was a good indication of how the muffins themselves would taste – light and fluffy in texture with a rich flavor from the sour cream. Chock full of blueberries, these muffins are a good contender to be “the one”.

Blueberry Muffins
Adapted from Baking Illustrated

Ingredients:
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 T. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 large egg
1 cup granulated sugar
4 T. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
1 1/4 cups sour cream
1 1/2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen, preferably wild

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 12-cup muffin tin and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

In a medium bowl, whisk the egg until frothy and light in color.

Add the sugar to the egg and whisk vigorously until thick and thoroughly combined.

Add the butter to the egg mixture in 2 or 3 additions. Whisk to combine after each addition.

Add the sour cream to the wet mixture and whisk until just combined.

Add the blueberries to the flour mixture. Toss the berries gently to coat them in the flour.

Add the wet mixture to the flour mixture. Use a rubber spatula to fold in the berries and mix the batter together. Mix until the batter just comes together. (Be careful to not over-mix the batter – it’s okay to have some small spots of flour remaining.)

Evenly distribute the batter into the prepared muffin tin. (A spoon greased with cooking spray is a great tool for this.)

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the muffins are light golden brown and a toothpick or knife inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Rotate the pan halfway through the time to ensure even baking.

Remove the muffins from the tin and cool on a wire cooling rack.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

Makes 12 muffins.