food and other stuff

I had some blueberries and Meyer lemons in my fridge, and wasn’t sure what to do with them. Yesterday’s gray and chilly first day of fall gave me the perfect idea to say goodbye to summer. These muffins are packed with blueberries and not too sweet. Those who like a muffin that is more like a breakfast muffin and less like a sweet dessert cupcake, are going to loooove this recipe. Bom Apetite!

Baking time: 25 to 35 minutes at 375 F

Ingredients

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup vanilla sugar*

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 /2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter melted

3 large eggs

3/4 cup milk

Grated zest and juice of 1 meyer lemon**

3 cups fresh or frozen blueberries ***

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Line 12 large muffin pan with paper liners,and  spray them lightly with vegetable oil spray.

Sift and combine together the flour, vanilla sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon in a large bowl.

Have all your ingredients at room temperature (except if using frozen blueberries). Whisk together the butter, eggs, milk, meyer lemon zest, and lemon juice in a separate bowl until well combined. Make sure the butter is not hot, or it will cook the eggs.

Place 1 1/2 cups of the blueberries in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade and pulse several times until coarsely chopped. If you do not have a processor you can use a knife. Stir the chopped berries into the egg mixture.

Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture, and stir just until the dry ingredients are moist and blended. Do not over mix. Fold in the remaining whole blueberries.

Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin pan with a spoon or a large ice cream scoop until the batter comes to the top of the paper liner or pan.

Sprinkle the top with raw sugar.

Bake 25 to 30 minutes, at 375 F until lightly golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.

Remove from the oven and cool for 5 minutes. Turn the muffins out of the pan and serve immediately.

If you prefer your muffins sweeter you can add 3 tablespoons of honey to the batter.

NOTES

* Vanilla Sugar: Make your own vanilla sugar by using the vanilla beans you used for a previous recipe. After you seen the beans, rinse them under cold running water, making sure they completely clean. Let them air dry on top of a cloth or paper towel. Add the vanilla beans to a sugar container, close it and let the flavors combine for about two weeks.

** Meyer Lemon: Meyer lemons are sweeter than regular lemons. You can substitute it for regular lemons, but if you like your muffins on the sweeter side you can add 3 tablespoons of honey. Or you can use oranges.

***Blueberries : If using frozen blueberries, use them while they are still frozen; it helps hold the shape of the muffin (otherwise, the batter will become too watery).

Tags: baking, blueberry, breakfast, dessert, food, lemon, muffin, sweet