sweets for every tooth.

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Big. Blueberry. Muffin.

You guys.  I went to Smart and Final today.  You know, the "smarter, faster warehouse store."  And guess what I bought?  A ginormous bag of Cheerios!  Oh wait, that has nothing to do with this blog.  So, guess what else I bought?  Way too much flour and way too much sugar!  So exciting!  And what better to use them on than some amazing Blueberry Muffins?  Blueberry Muffins are one of the better things in life.  Like, if I have my choice between 10 different kinds of muffins, 80% of the time I'm going to choose Blueberry.  And the other 20%, while I may enjoy the muffin of my choice, I will still be wondering what the Blueberry Muffin would have tasted like.

But then it gets complicated.  Am I the only one who thinks mass-produced Blueberry Muffins are one of the worst pastries in the universe?  I have learned never to say yes to a Blueberry Muffin out of a plastic box or wrapper from any major chain store.  Even Starbucks got it wrong when they switched recipes a year ago.  Mass-produced BBM's are all too often too heavy, too oily, too lemony, too lacking in blueberries, too boring.

So I say STOP THE MADNESS!  The people deserve a BBM that is moist, not oily, flavored with hints of brown sugar and cinnamon, not bland, bursting with blueberries, not void of them altogether.  CaityBakes' Big Blueberry Muffin to the rescue!  Here's what you'll need:

Muffin
3 Cups All-Purpose Flour
1 1/2 Cup White Sugar
1 tsp Salt
4 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 Cup Unsalted Butter, melted
2 Eggs
2/3 Cup Nonfat Milk
2 Cups Fresh Blueberries (if you must go frozen or canned, make sure to drain the blueberries, and know that they may dye your muffins blue)


Topping
1/4 Cup Brown Sugar
2 Tbs All-Purpose Flour
2 Tbs Unsalted Butter, room temperature and cubed
3/4 tsp Cinnamon
**If you reeeeaaallly like topping on your muffins (the above already makes a lot) then double it to: 1/2 C Brown Sugar, 1/4 C Flour, 1/4 C Butter, 1 1/2 tsp Cinnamon.


1. Preheat oven to 400 Degrees Fahrenheit.  Line muffin tins with paper cup liners (will make about 14 muffins if you fill cups all the way with batter as recommended, more if you're less generous with the batter).


2. Combine 1 1/2 Cups Flour, 3/4 Cup Sugar, salt and baking powder.  Mix in melted butter, egg and milk until well combined.  Gently fold in blueberries.


3. Pour batter evenly into 14 muffin cups, filling all the way to the top.  We want these muffins to overflow as they bake!  They are BIG blueberry mufins, after all.


4. Combine Topping ingredients - brown sugar, flour, butter and cinnamon.  Mix with a fork until well combined but still crumbly.  Sprinkle evenly over tops of muffins before baking.  Be generous!


5. Bake at 400 F for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick or knife inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.

2 comments:

Holly Brim said...

These look really great! The tops look professional.

CE said...

I had never put topping on muffins before...will never not do it again!