Bakery-Style Blueberry Muffins

By: Sarah

 

That bakery-style sky-high blueberry muffins with streusel topping and tender interior…that is a personal favorite. There is a secret to getting that extra lift in the muffin top, and I’m sharing it with you. Have some tools and muffin pans ready, ingredients measured, oven preheated and let’s have fun baking. There’s never been a better time to get busy in the kitchen and bake — no great big-budge t hollywood movies to watch, no more extended gatherings with friends, cold/ hot outside, we easily just get bored. Let’s bake/cook instead to relax and have fun creating delicious treats…and yes, eating is just as fun making it.

Here in my column, it is not just about writing and sharing recipes, it’s about experiencing the joy, relaxation and creative freedom that come with baking or cooking it. And not to forget, the blessing to others that will get to taste and enjoy the fruits of the labor. These days, I just love to bake or cook for people I love. It’s my alternat e stress reliever to watching Judge Judy. It is my outlet too to connecting with great bakers/cooks. It is my hobby, it keeps me challenging myself to learn new things. So keep reading my column (promise, I am back for good; thank you Titah Veronica for this awesome opportunity) and let’s have fun together, let’s learn together, let’s create beautiful cakes and delicious foods. I am in the process of creating a Facebook pag e so we can connect regularly and share photos, experiences, tips, new recipes; I’ll update you next issue.

Back to this month’s feature Bakery-style Blueberry Muffins. I like to use frozen blueberries so I can make this cake all-ye ar round. I purchase the seasonal blueberries and freeze them. And I don’t even have to thaw them to incorporate in my cake batter. And yes, the frozen blueberries tend to bleed less in the batter than fresh ones. But feel free to use fresh blueberries when available. The cake’s leavener (makes cakes rise during baking) is baking powder, so if you haven’t bought a fresh can recently, test if it is expired (drop a bit of baking powder into hot water and look for that bubbling reaction. Baking powder is inexpensive, so just buy small containers unless you really bake almost every day (not me though!). Also, know your oven. An oven thermometer is a must to measure the exact internal temperature of your oven

. Ok, let’s dive in to the recipe BAKERY-STYLE BLUEBERRY MUFFINS now…FUN is the key to success.

Preheat oven to 425°F (yes, baking at this high initial temperature is the secret!). Line the muffin pans with muffin liners. Set aside.

Make the streusel topping. In a small bowl, combine the flour, sugar and cinnamon. Add butter and mix using pastry blender or 2 forks until coarse crumbs form. Set aside.

Streusel Topping:

1/3 cup all purpose flour 1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 cup (half a stick) butter, cold

Make the muffins. You need 2 bowls: a large bowl for dry ingredients and a medium bowl for wet ingredients. Sift together the dry ingredients; set aside. For the wet ingredients, whisk (using wire whisk or hand mixer) the eggs and sugars together. Add milk, oil (vegetable/ canola/corn; don’t use olive oil) and vanilla. Pour wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix together. The batter will be thick and lumpy but avoid over-mixing (just mix till no traces of flour). Fold in blueberries. Fill lined muffin pans all the way to the top. Top with streusel. Bake at 425°F for 5 minutes and without opening the oven door, reduce the temperature to 375°F for additional baking of 25-30 minutes or until done with toothpick test (toothpick inserted in center comes out almost clean). Cool 10 minutes in pan and transfer to cooling racks.

Dry ingredients:

3 cups all purpose flour 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon (4 teaspoons) double-acting baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Wet ingredients:

2 large eggs 3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup light brown sugar 1 cup whole milk

1/2 cup vegetable oil 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 pint Fresh or Frozen Blueberries (do not thaw)

I would love to see your photos of your baked Blueberry Muffins. Send them for now to my email address: divasarah@ sbcglobal.net. Recipe requests are also welcome. Bake this all-time favorite Bluebery Muffins and make your kitchen smell soooo good. Who’s hungry!