I love the Crazy Cooking Challenge – it’s a fun way to meet new food bloggers, make delicious recipes and share with others.
This month was Blueberry Muffins which is perfect for me, because I love muffins, and I especially love Blueberry Muffins.
I used the little Food Blog Recipe Search I have at the bottom of my page and typed in “blueberry muffins” and after skimming through a whole page of results, I found a whole bunch I wanted too try.
And I tried several to see which one I liked best, and finally stopped when I made this one from A Cook’s Quest.
Yep, her recipe is that good. I only made minor tweaks and the first time I didn’t make either of the toppings. I did the second time and I prefer the lemon sugar one. VERY delicious.
It wasn’t until after I had already made them and got this blog post together that I realized she also participates in the Crazy Cooking Challenge which I figured out via the graphic for the challenge on her blog. I love it! I cannot wait to see what she does for this challenge since these Blueberry Muffins are titled The Best Ever Blueberry Muffins.
She wasn’t kidding either – they are the best ever, which is why I chose them!
Ingredients
- 2 cups of fresh blueberries, picked over
- 1 1/8 cups plus 2 teaspoons sugar
- 2 tablespoons water (I found this made it a little easier to mix in)
- 2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon table salt
- 2 large eggs
- 4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 T white sugar
- 3 T brown sugar
- 1/3 cup flour
- 5 T melted butter
- 1/3 cup (21/3 ounces) sugar
- 1½ teaspoons finely grated zest from 1 lemon
Instructions
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. (her recipes shows 425 and then mentions you might want to turn it down - we did it at 425 the first time, and 400 the second time - I am thinking about trying 375 next, because I think it really makes a difference)
Prepare your muffins tins.
In a saucepan on the stove, bring 1 cup of blueberries, the water (I used a little tiny bit more than she did), 2 teaspoons sugar to simmer in small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, mashing the berries with your potato masher or fork several times and stiring frequently, until the berries have broken down and mixture is thickened and reduced by about half. It took me a bit to get to this point and at first I thought I was doing it wrong. I was not. This will take about 6 minutes.Put it all in a bowl and allow it to cool until it is room temp.
In your stand mixer or a medium bowl whisk together the remaining sugar (1 1/8c) and the eggs. Slowly add the butter and the oil. Whisk until combined. Then add the buttermilk and the vanilla and whisk until combined.
In another bowl, whisk the flour, the baking powder and the salt together. Using a spatula or large kitchen spoon add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients a little at a time. Mix until combined - batter will still be very lumpy with a few spots of dry flour. Gently fold in the blueberries and stir just until they are moistened. You don't want to over mix.
Using a measuring cup, large spoon or an ice cream cone or cookie scoop, divide the batter equally among prepared muffin cups (batter should completely fill cups and mound slightly).
Spoon a teaspoon of cooked berry mixture into the center of each bit of batter. Using a fork (or a chopstick or skewer like she suggested), gently swirl the berries through the top.
If you are using any of the toppings (directions below) sprinkle these on now.
Bake until muffin tops are golden and just firm, 17 to 19 minutes. Cool muffins in muffin tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack and cool 5 minutes before serving.
Combine the four ingredients listed until it is the size of peas and sprinkle on top of muffins before baking.
Stir together sugar and lemon zest in small bowl until combined; sprinkle on top of muffins before baking.
http://dailydishrecipes.com/the-best-blueberry-muffins/Recipe from here, and Cooks Illustrated.
Tina from Mom’s Crazy Kitchen hosts this challenge every month and this is our sixth month of the Crazy Cooking Challenge.
Here are my previous entries:
- Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe
- Ultimate Macaroni and Cheese Recipe
- World’s Creamiest Mashed Potato Recipe
- Ultimate Fudge Recipe
- Ultimate Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe
- Ultimate Chocolate Cake
- Spaghetti (Red Sauce)
- and of course this one, is the 8th – Blueberry Muffins.
Be sure and visit the other blueberry muffin recipes this month:
{ 26 comments… read them below or add one }
This was my favorite month so far. I love blueberry muffins but have never made them from scratch. Looking through all the recipes makes me want to bake a batch but my oven isn’t working right now.
Blueberry Muffins were a fantastic idea for one of our challenges. I, much like Tina -had no idea there were so many different ways to make a blueberry muffin.
I feel so bad for you – your oven not working? I am not sure what I would do. I hope the stovetop at least works. xoxo
Wow they look divine! Must be my favourite muffins.
I’m not sure there is anything and traditional and classic (and delicious) as a fluffy blueberry muffin. Thanks Simone.
Nicole
It is so fun to find a recipe that is “the one!” It’s even more fun to share it.
CCC #87
I think that is what makes the crazy cooking challenge so much fun. A few times I’ve thought I’d found the one only to see someone else post their {CCC} recipe and realize that one might be the one instead. Thank you!
I love the blueberry muffin I made, but I also printed off your recipe. I will surely give it a try. I love baking with buttermilk, they look delish…..and I like that you choose a recipe from a fellow ccc. that’s kinda cool……………… andi the wednesdaybaker.blogspot.com
And I didn’t even set out to try one from a fellow CCC, but it doesn’t look like she participated this month (probably because she already had the perfect recipe…. ha!)
Buttermilk is amazing. No doubt.
Off to come see yours.
I made this recipe also, it really is “the best!”
I have never had a blueberry muffin that was as good as these. My kids ate them all up the first day. However, we have plans to bake them again this weekend. Love that you used this recipe too!
Delicious looking~What great pictures! Wonderful recipe choice!
Teri, thank you.
The lemon sugar sounds like such a delish idea to top them with. I will definitely be trying that! -Kelly #47
The lemon sugar really added something spectacular to them. Loved that!
That lemon zest and sugar topping sounds divine!
It was. It is. You could do it to almost any muffin, which I loved.
This was my first challenge – and I LOVED it – your muffins look amazing
Aw, welcome to the Crazy Cooking Challenge – it is so much fun, and the recipes are outstanding.
They looks very delicious! Got to try baking this recipe.
Yes, they were Zoe. Delicious is definitely accurate. Thank you for stopping by.
Oh my goodness, those look and sound divine! The lemon sugar topping sounds really good. I’ve never tried that before.
Shannon at The Warrior Muse, co-host of the 2012 #atozchallenge! Twitter: @AprilA2Z
Shannon the lemon sugar topping really did add something special to them. We preferred them that way. It more like eating cake than a muffin. Crazy, I know.
The blueberries muffins look awesome!
Thank you Asmita!
Your muffins look soooooo good. I’m gaining weight just looking at everyone’s photos and recipes. Please check out my recipe at CCC#96.
Thanks,
Joanne
haha the weight gain thing happens to me all the time looking at all the yummy photos. Thanks for stopping by and I will definitely check yours out too.