Blueberry Muffins

Name: Blueberry Muffins
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 50 min
Cuisine: United States
Ingredients: 300 g (2½ cups) all-purpose flour; 10 g (2½ tsp) baking powder; 2 g (⅓ tsp) baking soda; 4 g (¾ tsp) fine sea salt; 200 g (1 cup) sugar; 1 lemon, zest finely grated; 2 large eggs (about 100 g without shells), at room temperature; 240 g (1 cup) buttermilk or plain yogurt; 100 g (7 tbsp) unsalted butter, melted; 60 ml (¼ cup) neutral oil; 5 ml (1 tsp) vanilla extract; 300 g (2 cups) blueberries, fresh or frozen (not thawed); 30 g (2 tbsp) demerara or coarse sugar, for the tops

Tall bakery-style domes, crunchy sugar tops, full of fruit

Makes: 12 muffins
Hands-on: 15 min
Total: 50 min
Level: Easy

Moist, tender muffins packed with blueberries and topped with crunchy sugar. A hot start in the oven gives them tall, rounded tops like a bakery's, and the batter is mixed by hand in two bowls in five minutes.

Ingredients

300 gall-purpose flour (2½ cups)
10 gbaking powder (2½ tsp)
2 gbaking soda (⅓ tsp)
4 gfine sea salt (¾ tsp)
200 gsugar (1 cup)
1lemon, zest finely grated
2large eggs (about 100 g without shells)at room temperature
240 gbuttermilk or plain yogurt (1 cup)
100 gunsalted butter, melted (7 tbsp)
60 mlneutral oil (¼ cup)
5 mlvanilla extract (1 tsp)
300 gblueberries, fresh or frozen (not thawed) (2 cups)
30 gdemerara or coarse sugar (2 tbsp)for the tops

Diet: Vegetarian
Allergens: gluten, egg, milk
Origin: United States
Season: Summer, All

Method

Heat the oven to 220°C (425°F). Line a 12-hole muffin pan with paper cases.
In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Take out 1 tablespoon and toss it with the blueberries.
In a second bowl, rub the sugar with the lemon zest between your fingers until fragrant. Whisk in the eggs, then the buttermilk, melted butter, oil and vanilla.
Pour the wet mixture into the dry and fold with a spatula about 10 times, until barely combined with streaks of flour remaining. Add the blueberries and fold 3–4 times more. The batter should be thick and lumpy.
Divide among the cases, filling them right to the top (about 110 g each). Sprinkle with demerara sugar.
Bake 5 minutes, then without opening the door reduce to 180°C (350°F) and bake 15–18 minutes more, until domed, golden and a skewer comes out clean. 22 min
Cool in the pan 5 minutes, then on a rack. 5 min

Why it works

Undermixing is the secret of muffins: lumpy batter means little gluten, so the crumb stays tender rather than tough and tunnelled. A blast of high heat at the start makes the leaveners and steam push the batter up fast before the outside sets, giving a tall dome. Butter brings flavor and oil keeps them moist for longer.

Common mistakes

Stirring until smooth. Stop while you can still see flour.
Thawing frozen berries, which streak the batter purple. Use them frozen.
Underfilling the cases. Full cases give tall tops.

Variations

Crumble top: Rub 50 g flour, 40 g brown sugar and 30 g cold butter together and scatter over instead of demerara.
Raspberry and white chocolate: Use raspberries and fold in 80 g chopped white chocolate.

Make ahead and storage

Keep 2 days in an airtight container (with paper towel to absorb moisture), or freeze for 2 months.

Notes

Fan oven: 200°C (390°F), then 160°C (320°F).