The Blueberry Experiment

I can’t remember ever buying blueberries in my life before this, but I made a goal a little while back to increase the variety of fruits and vegetables that I use in my cooking. Blueberries were on sale so I bought two pounds and thought I would experiment with several recipes and present it on my blog. So here are four great recipes that you can try if you have blueberries in your pantry.

The first recipe is Blueberry Muffins. Other than the recipes I have already shared on this blog, I rarely make muffins from scratch. I use the mixes. I think I am growing tired of mixes because I am always looking for better recipes that I could make with out the crutch of a mix. (I have yet to find a moist white cake recipe that is better than a mix.... if you have one let me know.) I feel silly saying this but I found this recipe on facebook. One of Traci's friends Julie Reber (who is my friend on facebook... you know how that goes) posted this recipe on her wall. It is from simplyrecipes.com. The author of the recipe has this to say about these muffins:

"There are three things I have a hard time resisting- my dad's tapioca pudding, Belgian dark chocolate, and freshly baked blueberry muffins. Muffins are not as hard to get right as on might think. Too dry, too dense, too sugary- these are all predicaments that one can encounter when trying to bake the perfect muffin. This blueberry muffin recipe however, from The Best Recipe cookbook, makes them just right- light, fluffy, and full of blueberries."

This is why I like it when cook books have explanations of why they like the recipes or where they got them. Most of the time these are more convincing to me than the actual ingredients of the recipe that it will turn out good if I follow the directions. I must say that whoever the other is got it dead on. These muffins are light fluffy and super yummy.

Blueberry Muffins

3 c. flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
10 Tbsp unsalted butter (1 1/4 stick), softened
1 c. sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 c. plain yogurt (I used vanilla, it tasted great)
1 tsp grated lemon peel (I put in more and I really liked the lemony flavor along with the blueberry)
1 1/2 c. blueberries
1 Tbsp flour (if using defrosted frozen berries)

1. Adjust the oven rack to the middle-lower part of the oven. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and set aside.
3. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar together, beating until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating until incorporated after each one. Beat in the grated lemon peel.
4. (This step seemed a bit nit-picky but I followed it anyway) Beat in one half of the dry ingredients until just incorporated. Beat in one third of the yogurt. Beat in half of the remaining dry ingredients. Beat in a second third of the yogurt. Beat in the remaining dry ingredients and then the remaining yogurt. Again be careful to beat until just incorporated. Do not over beat. Fold in the berries. If you are using frozen berries, defrost them first, drain the excess liquid, and then coat them in a light dusting of flour.
5. Use standard 12-muffin tins. Coat each muffin cup with cooking spray. Distribute the muffin dough equally among the cups. Bake until muffins are golden brown, about 25 to 30 minutes. test with a long toothpick to make sure the centers of the muffins are done. Set on wire rack to cool for 5 minutes. Remove muffins from the tin and serve sightly warm. (makes 12 to 16 muffins)