There are some duos that were just meant to be; Bonnie and Clyde, Tom and Jerry…and of course, lemon and blueberry. Blueberries were one of my favorite foods growing up – I’ve probably mentioned this before, but I used to eat them by the pint. However, it wasn’t until I started pairing them with lemon that I truly became obsessed. I went through a phase where I made blueberry-lemon scones every sunday for a solid few months because I couldn’t get enough. Recently, my childhood obsession had a resurgance while I was making a batch of blueberry muffins and thought to add in a bit of lemon zest. What a revelation! I’m sure this has been done by many before me, but I thought I would share my iteration in case you are in the mood for some classic muffins with a little twist.
Ingredients
1 stick softened butter
1 1/4 C granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 C all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 C milk
2 C fresh blueberies
1 TBSP lemon zest
My general philosophy is to throw everything in a bowl/pot/frying pan and hope the end result is edible, so I’m clearly more of a cook than a baker. Yet even I, as impulsive and imprecise as I am in the kitchen, managed to make this recipe and it turned out quite well, so even if you feel like you can’t bake I definitely recommend giving it a shot.
To start, just beat the butter and sugar with a hand mixer for a few minutes until light and fluffy.
Add in the eggs, one at a time (making sure the first is fully combined before adding the second).
In a seperate bowl, sift or (if you’re lazy like me) whisk together the four, salt, and baking powder until well combined and lump-free. I know whisking/sifting seems like an unnecessary extra step, but it will help prevent clumps from forming in the batter, which will prevent overmixing later. As soon as the wet and dry ingredents come together, any mixing can create gluten. Too much gluten results in a tough/chewy muffin rather than a light, fluffy finished product, so we want to minimize mixing later.
Alternate adding the milk and the dry ingredients (2 batches of each) to the butter, egg, and sugar mixture. Add in the vanilla at this point as well. Mix just to combine – but don’t overmix! (See rant above).
Add in about 1/2 C of blueberries and the lemon zest to this mixture and beat them into the batter. I like to have some blueberry swirled in the muffin as well as whole berries, but if you’re a traditionalist feel free to save all berries for the next step.
At this point, we’re going to trade in our hand mixer for a spatula. Be sure to scrape the sides of the bowl and make sure all the flour is moistened using the spatula. Add in teh rest of the blueberries and fold them in gently to avoid breaking them.
Divide the batter between 12 lined muffin tins and bake at 375º F for about 30-35 minutes, or until they are golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
I hope you will try out this recipe because these were amazing! They were all gone within 2 days…and there are only 3 people in my house.
Enjoy!
XxKellyn
Kellyn's Kitchen 