Best-Ever Blueberry Muffins

Blueberry muffins can go one of two ways: They can be either dense and reminiscent of box-mix artificiality or they can encompass bursts of juicy blueberries, a fresh, homemade flavor, and finalized with a light and fluffy texture with a moist crumb.

Obviously, I would never make blueberry muffins from a box, but I’ve found that many homemade blueberry muffin recipes don’t meet perfection either. But I have found a recipe that works to produce the latter type of muffin every time, and that is the Cooks Illustrated recipe for Classic Blueberry Muffins tweaked by me : )

3 Reasons why these muffins are titled, “Best-Ever”:

1)   Delectable flavor

2)   Light and Fluffy, but very moist texture

3)   Very Easy to Make!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Best-Ever Blueberry Muffins

(Original recipe says it yields a dozen, but I find it yields about 19 muffins)

Ingredients:

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (10 ounces)

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 large egg

2/3 cup granulated sugar (7 ounces)

4 tablespoon (1/2 a stick) salted butter, melted and cooled slightly

1 ¼ cups sour cream (10 ounces)

1 ½ cups frozen blueberries, preferably wild

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a couple standard muffin tins with muffin paper liners. (Only fill the ones you will use; obviously you won’t know exactly how many until you are filling them later).
2. Whisk flour and baking powder in a medium bowl until combined. Set aside. Whisk egg in second medium bowl until well-combined and light-colored, about 20 seconds. Add sugar and whisk until thick and homogenous, about 30 seconds. Add melted butter in 2 or 3 steps, whisking to combine after each addition. Add sour cream in 2 steps, whisking to combine.
3. Add frozen blueberries to dry ingredients and gently toss to combine. Add sour cream mixture and fold with rubber spatula until batter comes together and berries are evenly distributed, 25 to 30 seconds (small spots of flour may remain and batter will be very thick). Do not overmix.
4. Divide batter into muffin liners. Fill liners almost to the top. Fill the empty ones with water so that pan doesn’t burn. Bake until light golden brown and toothpick or skewer inserted into center of muffin comes out clean, 20-30 minutes (depending on your oven). Make sure to rotate pan from front to back half way through baking time. My oven bakes fast, so I bake the muffins 20 minutes total. Invert muffins onto wire rack and cool for at least 5 minutes.

Adapted from Cooks Illustrated