Lemon Blueberry Muffins

Have you ever walked into your favorite coffee shop and eyed those big, beautiful blueberry muffins in the pastry case only to be disappointed when you actually bite into one. Today we’re going to rectify that experience. We’re going to make my favorite blueberry muffins. Bursting with an abundance of sweet and tart blueberries and brightened with a hint of tangy lemon, these muffins are tender, moist and easy to make.  Over the years I have tried many different muffin recipes but this recipe by Pam Anderson featured in Cooks Illustrated magazine, February 1997 wins every time.

Lemon Blueberry Muffins

Blueberries have been identified by scientists as a superfood. Not only do they taste delicious whether fresh or added to your favorite recipes, they’re also packed with essential nutrients that help your body thrive. Containing an abundance of antioxidants and phytoflavinoids, blueberries have become a top food choice of doctors and nutritionists. High in potassium and vitamin C, not only can they lower your risk of heart disease and cancer, they are also anti-inflammatory. But there’s even more good news about this little purple berry. Antioxidants in blueberries promote memory and coordination by enhancing existing brain cell connections and improving neurocellular communication. Have I convinced you to make these blueberry muffins yet?

The original recipe for this muffin called for creaming the butter and sugar with an electric mixer. Sorry folks, I’m not pulling out the Kitchen-Aid to make muffins. I chose the alternate method suggested (albeit in very small letters) at the top of the printed recipe: melting the butter, mixing it with the eggs, and stirring in all the dry ingredients including the sugar. According to food scientist Shirley Corriher, fat from the butter and eggs coats the flour inhibiting gluten formation. When the flour is sufficiently coated, the yogurt in this recipe is added. This results in an especially tender muffin. Don’t be tempted to make these muffins with a single stick of butter instead of 10 tablespoons. The extra fat is important in this recipe. Tossing the blueberries with a tablespoon of flour before adding them to the batter keeps them from sinking to the bottom of the muffin. This muffin batter is very, very thick. That’s a good thing even though stirring the dough is going to give your arm a bit of a workout. The thick batter also keeps the blueberries from sinking to the bottom of the muffin. Portioning out the muffin batter with an ice cream scoop creates uniformly shaped muffins with rounded, craggy tops. Make these blueberry muffins for breakfast or a snack. Friends and family will clamor for this recipe.

Assemble your ingredients. Grate the lemon rind over the sugar and rub the rind into the sugar with your fingers. Melt the butter and when cooled, combine it with the eggs. Combine all of the dry ingredients including the lemon infused sugar, in a large bowl. Toss the blueberries with a tablespoon of flour and set aside.

Add the eggs and melted butter mixture to the bowl of dry ingredients. Mix thoroughly. Add the yogurt . This is a very thick batter. Mix again and finally, gently fold in the blueberries.

Portion out the batter into muffin cups lined with papers, using a large ice cream scoop. Top each muffin with a generous sprinkle of turbinado or raw sugar and bake for 25 minutes. Allow the muffins to cool slightly and enjoy.    

Print Recipe

Lemon Blueberry Muffins

Breakfast, bread and muffins

By Cooks Illustrated volume number 24, Feb. 1997, by Pam Anderson with Karen Tack – Serves: 12-15

Prep Time: 20 minutes – Cooking Time: 25 – Total Time: 45 minutes

Bursting with an abundance of sweet and tart blueberries and flavored with a hint of tangy lemon, these muffins are tender, moist and easy to make

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups low-fat plain yogurt
• 1 1/2 cups of blueberries
• 1 tablespoon of flour
• 3 tablespoons of raw sugar or turbinado sugar for sprinkling on muffins before baking

Instructions

1

Adjust the oven rack to lower middle position and preheat oven to 375 F.

2

Mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Combine the sugar and lemon zest. Rub the lemon zest into the sugar with your fingers. Add the sugar to the rest of the dry ingredients. Set aside.

3

Melt the butter and allow it to cool slightly (you don't want to scramble the eggs when you combine them with the butter). Beat the eggs slightly with a fork. Add the melted butter to the eggs.

4

Add the melted butter and eggs to the large bowl of dry ingredients. Stir to combine thoroughly.When mixed (do the best you can. It's a very thick sticky batter), add the yogurt. Combine well.

5

Toss the rinsed blueberries with 1 tablespoon of flour. Fold the blueberries into the batter gently, being careful not to squash the blueberries.

6

Line a muffin tin with muffin papers or spray with cooking spray

7

Using a large ice cream scoop, divide the batter evenly among the cups.

8

Sprinkle the top of each muffin with turbinado sugar or raw sugar.

9

Bake for 25-30 minutes until the muffins are golden and a testing skewer comes out with just a few dry crumbs clinging to it. (You may have some blueberry juice on the skewer as well. That's fine)

10

Place the muffin tin on a wire rack to cool. Enjoy the muffins warm or at room temperature.

Notes

These muffins freeze very well. After cooling, wrap each muffin in plastic wrap and store in a resealable plastic bag in the freezer. You can use frozen blueberries to make these muffins. Make sure that you don't defrost the blueberries before adding them to your recipe. Bake as directed.