Blueberry Muffins

Out of season, this is a re-posting from my old kusina, with some text revision.


Every year my in-laws would either invite me to pick from their garden, or they would just give me, blueberries amounting to about a gallon. There are times my friend Fe gives me some as well. They are good for eating fresh from the bush, but I freeze them (as is, in freezer bags) if I am not ready to make something with them. I may make them into blueberry jam or a blueberry sourcream coffee cake, or I make muffins with them.

I got the recipe from Sarah's baking911, and that recipe was definitely a keeper. I don't come up at all with high-dome cupcakes (to my disappointment!) but the taste is superb, and they get better after a day or two as the sugar has tamed the tartness of the less ripe blueberries.

Ingredients:

8 tbsp (1 stick) soft unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups sugar, plus more for sprinkling the tops of the muffins
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour (preferably bleached--gives a whiter color)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup buttermilk or milk
1 pint blueberries, rinsed, drained and dried
One 12-cavity muffin pan with paper liners(they are sticky!)

Instructions:



1. Set a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 375 degrees F.

2. Cream the butter with the sugar and salt by hand or with an electric mixer until light. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until smooth. Mix the flour and baking powder together well and stir into the batter alternating with the milk or buttermilk.

3. Crush a quarter of the berries and stir into the batter; fold in the remaining berries whole.

4. Spoon the batter into the muffin pan. Sprinkle the tops with some sugar.

5. Bake the muffins about 30 minutes, until well risen and deep golden. Cool the muffins in the pan.