RECIPE: Berry Good Blueberry Muffins

I love blueberry season! They just beg to be eaten by the handful...

But today they're being used for some amazing muffins... some muffins you need to make soon, ASAP!


As usual when baking, I start with the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder and salt)...



To that we add the ground cinnamon and ground nutmeg...



But first let's take a closer look at the whole nutmeg... freshly ground nutmeg is by far WAY better than nutmeg that is already ground. And the smell ... wow!



You can grind a whole nutmeg with a microplane. 3 seconds later... you're happy you did!





Next... on to the wet ingredients. Measure out the butter and sugar... and cream it up.



Get your hands on two eggs...



Beat them up a little...



Add the eggs to the creamed sugar/butter mixture...



And keep creaming... this creates such a beautiful satin-like batter.



The gentle look of the creamed mixture makes me want to use a good old-fashioned wooden spoon for the rest of this project. It's just begging for a wooden spoon... so I add the milk.



And with the wooden spoon, gently mix in the milk.



And now it's time to introduce the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture...



Starting with a small portion, fold in the dry ingredients...



Add another small portion... and keep folding...





And for the crowned glory of the morning... the beautiful and berry good blueberries!



But for one more twist on this blueberry muffin... we're going to top these with a little lemon zest. You won't really know it's there. But the flavor it leaves ... is just, um... perfect!!!



We're doing double duty with the microplane today... but just barely pulling that outer layer of the lemon off. It doesn't take much effort.



When zesting the lemon, you want to stop before you get any of the white part of the pith. That just tastes bitter. And we don't want bitter.



We just want the slight flavor from that outer layer of the skin.



After spooning the batter into the greased muffin pans, top with a light sprinkle of sugar and a teeny-tiny pinch of lemon zest.



I decided to make some muffins with only sugar and some with both sugar and lemon zest (you know, to compare).



And the ones WITH lemon zest easily top the charts as my fav!







You KNOW you have to make these for yourself! So, 'cuz I'm feeling generous today... here's the recipe! But only share these with the people you love the most!



Berry Good Blueberry Muffins
Recipe courtesy Lori Tisdale

Ingredients
½ cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, beaten
½ cup milk
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 cups fresh blueberries, (frozen ok too)
2 tablespoons sugar, for topping
Zest from one lemon, for topping

Instructions
Preheat oven to 375F degrees. Combine dry ingredients and set aside. Cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs and mix well, stir in milk. Add dry ingredients (in small batches) to creamed mixture; stir to combine. Fold in blueberries, gently.

Grease muffin cups and fill approximately ¾ full. Sprinkle tops with a little sugar and a pinch of lemon zest. Bake for about 20-22 minutes, or until the tops start to lightly brown.

Remove to cooling rack. Allow to sit for about 5 minutes for removing each muffin to continue to cool. Yield: 12-16 muffins.




enjoy your time in the kitchen...