BEST Blueberry Muffins

Ah blueberries. They have never been my fave. I have always found this small berry to be mushy, flavorless and the skins too tough for my liking. However, one Saturday many Saturdays ago I was sitting watching my FAVORITE cooking show on KBYU - America's Test Kitchen and they were making these muffins. While I don't LOVE blueberries I do LOVE me a good muffin. Maybe I was extra hungry that day, I don't know, but I just knew I had to give these a try. I had had blueberry muffins in the past which left me feeling blah. I wanted to change my attitude about blueberry muffins and knew that if anyone could do it, it was the folks at America's Test Kitchen. As always they did not disappoint. These beauties were wonderful. Great texture and great blueberry flavor and the lemon sugar topping adds an extra unexpected wow factor. My faith in blueberry muffins has been restored and this recipe now has a permanent home in my heart!


Best Blueberry Muffins
America’s Test Kitchen




For the Lemon-Sugar Topping
1/3 cup (2 1/3 ounces) sugar [I recommend sanding sugar]
1 1/2 tsps finely grated zest from 1 lemon

For the Muffins
2 cups (approximately 10 ounces) fresh blueberries, picked over, with stems and bad blueberries thrown out
1 1/8 cups (8 ounces) plus 1 tsp sugar
2 1/2 cups (12 1/2 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
2 1/2 tsps baking powder
1 tsp table salt
2 large eggs
4 Tbsps (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 tsps vanilla extract


Directions
For the Topping
Stir together the sanding sugar and lemon zest in a small bowl until combined. Set aside.


1. Adjust the oven rack to upper-middle position, and preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Spray a standard muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray.


2. Bring 1 cup blueberries and 1 tsp sugar to a simmer over medium heat. Cook, mashing berries with a spoon (I find a fork works very well, maybe even better) several times, and stirring frequently, until the berries have broken down and the mixture has thickened and reduced to 1/4 cup (you will just have to eyeball this measurement), approximately 6 minutes. Transfer the mixture to a small bowl, and let cool to room temperature, 10 to 15 minutes.


3. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Set aside.


4. Whisk remaining 1 1/8 cups of sugar and the eggs together in a medium bowl, until thick and incorporated, about 45 seconds.


5. Slowly whisk in the butter and oil until combined. Whisk in the buttermilk and vanilla until combined.


6. Using a rubber spatula, fold the egg mixture and the remaining cup of blueberries into the flour mixture until just moistened. The batter will be very lumpy with few spots of dry flour. Do not over mix the batter, or your muffins will be tough.


7. Use an ice cream scoop or large spoon to divide the batter equally among the muffin cups. The batter should completely fill the cups and mound slightly. You should have enough batter for exactly 12 muffins.


8. Spoon a teaspoon of the cooked blueberry mixture into the center of each mound of muffin batter. Using a chopstick or a skewer, gently swirl the blueberry filling into the batter, using a figure-eight motion.


9. Sprinkle the lemon sugar evenly over the muffins.


10. Bake until Muffin tops are golden and just firm, 17 to 19 minutes, rotating the muffin tin from front to back, halfway through baking tin.


12. Cool muffins in muffin tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack and let cool 5 minutes before serving.

BEST Banana Butterscotch Muffins

My amazing friend Holly over at Phemomenon (http://phemomenon.blogspot.com/) gave me this recipe a little while back and now whenever I have banana's that are ready to be made into some deliciously naughty treat my mind goes straight to these little wonders. I must admit when she first suggested butterscotch chips I was a little hesitant but I happened to have some that I needed to use and OH BOY it was like the windows of heaven opened up- what a truly wonderful combination!!! A must try!!!





Banana 'Chip' Muffins
Adapted liberally from Nigella Lawson

2-3 ripe bananas, mashed (about 1 cup)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour (or a combination of all-purpose and wheat flour)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 to 1 cup chips (butterscotch, chocolate, white chocolate, cinnamon, cappuccino, peanut butter or toffee bits, and/or nuts - or any combination)


Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line or spray 12 muffin cups with oil. Set aside.

Whisk together the oil, eggs and vanilla in a small bowl or glass measuring cup. Set aside.

Whisk together the flour(s), sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Add the oil/egg mixture and stir well till just combined. Add the mashed bananas till just mixed in. Fold in the chips.

Distribute the mixture evenly between the 12 muffin cups (will be about 2/3 to 3/4 full). Bake the muffins for 22 to 24 minutes or until lightly golden and springy to the touch. Let cool 5 minutes before removing from the pan. Serve warm or at room temperature. Store completely cooled muffins in an airtight container.

Pumpkin Streusel Muffins

Don't you hate it when you are all excited to try a new recipe and after tasting it the results are not a Wahoo but more of a wa wa waaaaa? That was the case with these muffins. Don't get me wrong, they were fine, but for me they were just a little bland. I kept thinking after eating one, these need some chocolate chips. But I didn't want Pumpkin Streusel Chocolate Chip Muffins! I wanted moist and tasty Pumpkin Streusel Muffins. Back to the drawing board.

These tasted like something out of a fat-free, diet, cooking light (but not flavorful) cookbook. I hate to say it but I don't think I will bother making these again. If anyone has a good, tasty recipe for these PLEASE let me know.

Pumpkin Streusel Muffins

1/4 c. margarine or butter, softened
1/2 c. sugar
1/4 c. brown sugar
2/3 c. pumpkin
1/2 c. buttermilk
2 eggs
2 c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
Streusel Topping:
1/3 c. flour
3 Tbsp. brown sugar
2 Tbsp. cold butter or margarine
For muffins: cream together margarine and sugars. Add all remaining ingredients and mix together. In a separate bowl, cut together streusel ingredients and sprinkle over muffin batter.
I learnt a cool trick watching America's Test Kitchen on how to successfully add the streusel onto the top of the muffins without making a big mess. The photo is terrible, but what you do is using a round cookie cutter the size of your muffin or cupcake tin place it over the top of the uncooked batter and hold it there while you sprinkle the streusel on top. Once you have placed the desired amount of streusel on top carefully lift the cookie cutter off. This ensures that the streusel stays on top of the muffin where you want it. I love this trick!

Bake in prepared muffin tin at 375 for 20-25 minutes. Makes one dozen muffins.

Buttermilk Banana Muffins

On Tuesday while I was home with a sick toddler and a busted back I decided to do something with the bananas on my bench that were quickly ripening and the buttermilk in my fridge which was close to expiring. The end result was a tasty muffin that I think I would definitely make again. I loved these warm with a little butter but knew that by the time my husband came home and tried one that they would no longer be warm. I tend to like things on the plainer and not so sweet side whereas my hubby has quite the sweet tooth. I ended up making some cream cheese frosting to go on top which just added to this yummy muffin.

Banana-Buttermilk Muffins
From Williams-Sonoma Essentials of Healthful Cooking.

Ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup sugar (I used 1/4 cup of white sugar and 1/4 cup of brown sugar)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup low-fat buttermilk
1 cup mashed ripe banana
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (I omitted the nuts as I didn't have any on hand)

Directions

1-Preheat oven to 375°F.
2-Spray 12 regular muffin cups with non-stick cooking spray.
3-In a large bowl, mix together the flours, sugar, baking powder and baking soda.
4-In separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, mashed banana, oil, egg and vanilla.
5-Pour wet ingredients over dry ingredients and stir just until blended.
6-Spoon batter into muffin cups, filling about three-fourths full.
7-Sprinkle tops evenly with nuts.
8-Bake until lightly brown and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, approximately 15 to 20 minutes.
9-Allow to cool in pan on wire rack for 15 minutes, then turn out onto rack and cool completely.

Cinnamon Sugar Donut Muffins

Last Friday while I was blog surfing for a new dessert recipe to make for a family thing we had this weekend, I came across a recipe for Cinnamon Sugar Donut Muffins at Katskitchen (http://katskitchen.wordpress.com/).

Oh My! This is hands down my favorite kind of muffin at present. Not only to eat, but also to make. They were VERY delicious and SO easy. I actually made them three times over the weekend. I first made them on Friday night to test them out and was THRILLED when I could make them (quietly) while my 1 year old napped. Any recipe that involves a good ol wooden spoon and some elbow grease is so nice when your house is as small as mine and you can't make a whole lot of noise when the bebe is sleeping. My husband and son loved them too which is always an added bonus.

I will definitely be making these time and time again. Thanks Kat!

Cinnamon Sugar Donut Muffins
(Recipe adopted from: Laura Rebecca’s Kitchen)




1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup white flour

1 Tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 large eggs

1 cup sour cream (plain yogurt)

2/3 cup packed brown sugar

4 to 8 tbsp oil

1 tsp vanilla

Topping:

1/2 stick butter, melted

1/4 cup sugar

½ tsp cinnamon

Position oven rack in the middle position and preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a standard muffin pan with paper cups sprayed with non-stick spray.

Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, sour cream/yogurt, sugar, oil, and vanilla. Add flour mixture and mix with light strokes until the dry ingredients are just moistened. Don’t over mix; batter will be slightly lumpy.

Divide batter among the muffin cups and bake until a toothpick inserted in one or two of the muffins come out clean, 12-15 minutes.

While the muffins are baking, melt 1/2 stick butter and place in a bowl just large enough to hold a muffin. Combine 1/2 cup sugar and 1 tsp. cinnamon in a small, shallow bowl. As soon as the muffins are done, dip them one at a time in the melted butter and then roll in the sugar mixture. Set on a rack to cool.

Yields 12 standard muffins.

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

Even though Brad and I have been married for almost 6 years I only just recently found out that Poppy Seed Muffins are his "favorite". He told me this one day a couple of weeks ago whilst on a trip to Sams Club. I felt awful when he told me. I felt awful for two reasons. First- I felt dumb that I didn't know that he liked them (because shouldn't I know that?) and Second- Because I didn't know that he liked them SO much, I had never made them for him. So on Monday afternoon Gabe and I made Daddy some Lemon Poppy Seed muffins that were warm as Daddy walked in the door from work.