Lemon Glazed Blueberry Muffins January 30, 2010

As I was eating these I was thinking out loud that I should’ve put some of the zest directly into the batter – something that I’ll definitely try next time.  Phil seemed to think they were fantastic though, and I can’t say that I disagreed.  A yummy way to start off a cold and snowy Saturday morning.

Makes 12 muffins.

This recipe does not require a standing mixer, but when making the batter, be sure to whisk vigorously in step 2, then fold carefully in step 4. There should be no large pockets of flour in the finished batter, but small occasional sprays may remain. Do not overmix the batter.

INGREDIENTS

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (10 ounces)

1 tablespoon baking powder

½ teaspoon table salt

1 large egg

1 cup granulated sugar (7 ounces)

4 tablespoons unsalted butter , melted and cooled slightly

1 ¼ cups sour cream (10 ounces)

1 ½ cups frozen blueberries , preferably wild

1 teaspoon lemon zest or grated fresh ginger

¾ cup granulated sugar

¼ cup lemon juice

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray standard muffin tin with nonstick vegetable cooking spray.
2. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt in medium bowl until combined.
3. Whisk egg in second medium bowl until well-combined and light-colored, about 20 seconds. Add sugar and whisk vigorously until thick and homogenous, about 30 seconds; add melted butter in 2 or 3 steps, whisking to combine after each addition. Add sour cream in 2 steps, whisking just to combine.
4. Add frozen berries to dry ingredients and gently toss to combine. Add sour cream mixture and fold with rubber spatula until batter comes together and berries are evenly distributed, 25 to 30 seconds (small spots of flour may remain and batter will be thick). Do not overmix.
5. Use ice cream scoop or large spoon to drop batter into greased muffin tin. Bake until light golden brown and toothpick or skewer inserted into center of muffin comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes, rotating pan from front to back halfway through baking time.
6. While muffins are baking, mix lemon zest or grated fresh ginger and 1/2 cup sugar in small bowl.
7. Bring lemon juice and 1/4 cup sugar to simmer in small saucepan over medium heat; simmer until mixture is thick and syrupy and reduced to about 4 tablespoons.

Remove muffins from oven onto wire rack, stand upright, and cool 5 minutes.

After muffins have cooled, brush tops with glaze, then, working one at a time, dip tops of muffins in lemon-sugar or ginger-sugar.

Set muffins upright on wire rack; serve.

Blueberry Lemon Coffee Cake October 30, 2009

This coffee cake was great, and easy to make too, which is a bonus in my book.
But next time I make it, the things that I would change, from the original recipe below are:

• I’d add more blueberries to the cake (maybe another 1/3 Cup)
• I’d add at least one more Tbsp. of butter to the streusel topping
• More lemon zest (probably the entire lemon) because it was very difficult to detect

**To make the coffeecake even faster to prepare in the morning, prepare the streusel and measure out the dry ingredients for the cake the night before.

INGREDIENTS

Topping
1/3	cup packed light brown sugar
1/3	cup granulated sugar
1	tablespoon ground cinnamon
1	tablespoon unsalted butter , melted and cooled
1	cup pecans , almonds, or walnuts, chopped coarse
Cake
3	cups all-purpose flour
1	tablespoon baking powder
1	teaspoon baking soda
1	teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4	teaspoon table salt
1 3/4	cups buttermilk or plain yogurt
1	cup packed light brown sugar
1	cup granulated sugar (7 ounces)
3	large eggs
7	tablespoons unsalted butter , melted and cooled
1	cup blueberries (fresh or frozen), rinsed and dried
1	teaspoon grated lemon zest

INSTRUCTIONS

1. For the topping: Mix the brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon, and melted butter together in a medium bowl until the mixture resembles wet sand.
2. Stir in the nuts.
3. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees.
4. Generously coat a 9 by 13-inch baking pan with vegetable oil spray.
5. For the cake: Mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt together in a large bowl.
6. Whisk the buttermilk (Note: I used vanilla yogurt), brown sugar, granulated sugar, eggs, and melted butter together in a separate bowl until smooth.
7. Gently fold the egg mixture into the flour mixture with a rubber spatula and stir until the batter looks smooth and well combined.
8. Stir in blueberries and lemon zest.
9. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.
10. Sprinkle the topping evenly over the batter.
11. Bake until the top is golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with just a few crumbs attached, 40 to 45 minutes.
12. Let the cake cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes before serving.

Best Blueberry Muffins w/Frozen Blueberries October 25, 2009

Doesn't that look yummy?

I will never make another blueberry muffin after finding this recipe.  Hands down, it’s the best homemade muffin I’ve ever made.  I think it’s the lemon zest and the blueberry topping that make them taste so good.

Note: If buttermilk is unavailable, substitute 3/4 cup plain whole-milk or low-fat yogurt thinned with 1/4 cup milk. Our favorite brands of frozen blueberries are Wyman’s and Cascadian Farm.

INGREDIENTS

Lemon-Sugar Topping
1/3	cup sugar (2 1/3 ounces)
1 1/2	teaspoons finely grated zest from 1 lemon
Muffins
2	cups frozen blueberries
1 1/8	cups sugar (8 ounces) plus 1 teaspoon
2 1/2	cups unbleached all-purpose flour (12 1/2 ounces)
2 1/2	teaspoons baking powder
1	teaspoon table salt
2	large eggs
4	tablespoons unsalted butter , melted and cooled slightly (1/2 stick)
1/4	cup vegetable oil
1	cup buttermilk (see note)
1 1/2	teaspoons vanilla extract

INSTRUCTIONS

• FOR THE TOPPING: Stir together sugar and lemon zest in small bowl until combined; set aside.
• FOR THE MUFFINS: Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees. Spray standard muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray. Bring 1 cup blueberries and 1 teaspoon sugar to simmer in small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, mashing berries with spoon several times and stirring frequently, until berries have broken down and mixture is thickened and reduced to ¼ cup, about 6 minutes. Transfer to small bowl and cool to room temperature, 10 to 15 minutes.
• Rinse remaining cup berries under cold water and dry well.
• Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in large bowl.
• Whisk remaining 1 1/8 cups sugar and eggs together in medium bowl until thick and homogeneous, about 45 seconds. Slowly whisk in butter and oil until combined. Whisk in buttermilk and vanilla until combined.
• Toss dried blueberries in flour mixture. Then, using rubber spatula, fold egg mixture into blueberries and flour mixture until just moistened. (Batter will be very lumpy with few spots of dry flour; do not overmix.)
• Use ice cream scoop or large spoon to divide batter equally among prepared muffin cups (batter should completely fill cups and mound slightly). Spoon teaspoon of cooked berry mixture into center of each mound of batter. Using chopstick or skewer, gently swirl berry filling into batter using figure-eight motion.
• Sprinkle lemon sugar evenly over muffins.
• Bake until muffin tops are golden and just firm, 17-19 minutes, rotating muffin tin from front to back halfway through baking time.
• Cool muffins in muffin tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack and cool 5 minutes before serving.

1. 

   Doesn’t that look yummy?

   

   Ready for the oven

   

   Ready to swirl

   
   

   

   Cooked berries

   

   The batter

   

   Zest mixture