Saturday, June 27, 2009

Blueberry Muffins

I use A LOT of Deborah Madison's recipe. Why not? EVERY recipe I've tried from her Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone is excellent, and turns out as she describes. Recipe after recipe, I've not had one dud. So when I need a recipe, I turn to her, confident that I'll produce a successful dish, even if it takes time.

These blueberry muffins were tasty, moist, and heart warming. And it was the first muffin recipe that was true to the amount. You really do get 12 VERY nicely rounded muffins in a standard muffin tin. These muffins also freeze very well. After defrosting over night, place in the microwave for about 30 seconds, and it's like they came out of the oven.

I used 1/2 cup sugar because I'm trying to watch my sugar and found that it was a little less sweet than I would like though if you put a dollop of nice jam, it would be perfect. Next time, I think I'll increase the sugar to 3/4 cup. Also, watch the bake time. I checked the muffins at 20 minutes (5 minutes a head of recommended bake time) and they were done. Next time, I might check in at 17-18.

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Bake Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour or whole-wheat pastry flour (I used all purpose)
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 to 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 1/3 cup buttermilk
- 1/3 cup canola oil or butter, melted (I used butter)
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup blueberries (blackberries and raspberries would also work)

Preparation
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Spray, oil, or butter muffin tins. Mix the dry ingredients in one bowl and the wets in a second bowl, then combine them with a few swift strokes. Using a rubber spatula, stir the batter up from the bottom of the bowl to make sure that there aren't any pockets of flour. Don't beat the batter, and don't worry about an uneven appearance. Spoon or scoop the batter into tins, going nearly to the top for nicely rounded muffin. Bake in the upper third of the oven until browned and well risen, about 25 minutes. Turn out muffins and serve.

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