Blueberry Buttermilk Muffins

Listen to me carefully: you really must try this recipe. The good news is that it is versatile. My first attempt I just swapped a little of the vanilla extract for almond extract, and baked it in a 8x8 like the original Buttermilk-Blueberry Breakfast Cake. It was very good, but I thought it could be even better, so I went for a second batch. This time I increased the sugar by 1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsps and used the full 1 tsp vanilla and added a 1/2 tsp of almond, but the biggest difference is that I baked them as muffins. These are the best blueberry muffins I think I've ever tasted. I assure you that I will be making these muffins again. They are just slightly sweet, with a bit of tartness from the blueberries and lemon. The sugar on the topping creates a wonderful crust, and the batter itself is soft, fluffy and airy.

½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
Zest from 1 large lemon (about 2 tsps)
1 1/4 cup sugar plus about 1 tablespoon sugar for topping
1 egg, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp almond extract
2 cups flour (set aside about 1/8 cup to toss with the blueberries)
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 cups fresh blueberries
½ cup buttermilk

If you don't have buttermilk you can make some. The ratio is 1 Tbsp lemon juice or vinegar and top off to the 1 cup line with milk. In this case, we only need a 1/2 cup, so put 1 1/2 tsp lemon juice or vinegar into measuring cup and top to the 1/2 cup line with milk. You need to do this first to allow your milk time to curdle.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Cream butter, sugar, and lemon zest until light and fluffy.

Add the egg, vanilla extract, and almond extract and beat until combined.

Meanwhile, toss the blueberries with 1/8 cup of flour.

Whisk together the remaining flour, baking powder and salt. Add the flour mixture to the batter a little at a time, alternating with the buttermilk.

Fold in the blueberries.

Grease a 9-inch or 8-inch square baking pan (or something similar) with butter or coat with non-stick spray, or prepare two muffin tins (I just used paper liners). Spread batter into pan. Sprinkle batter with remaining tablespoon of sugar.

Bake square pan for 40-50 minutes, or the muffins for 15-20 minutes. Check with a toothpick for doneness.

 Let cool at least 15 minutes before serving. Enjoy!

Instructions

Put 1 1/2 tsp lemon juice or vinegar into measuring cup and top to the 1/2 cup line with milk. You need to do this first to allow your milk time to curdle.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Cream butter, sugar, and lemon zest until light and fluffy.

Add the egg, vanilla extract, and almond extract and beat until combined.

Meanwhile, toss the blueberries with 1/8 cup of flou

Whisk together the remaining flour, baking powder and salt.
Add the flour mixture to the batter a little at a time, alternating with the buttermilk.

Fold in the blueberries.

Grease a 9-inch or 8-inch square baking pan (or something similar) with butter or coat with non-stick spray, or prepare two muffin tins (I just used paper liners). Spread batter into pan. Sprinkle batter with remaining tablespoon of sugar.

Bake square pan for 40-50 minutes, or the muffins for 15-20 minutes. Check with a toothpick for doneness.

Let cool at least 15 minutes before serving. Enjoy! If you store in an air-tight container, the lovely sugar crust on top will get moist and soften. Do not seal the container you store them in and they should last several days.

Chocolate Chip Muffins

I'm not what you would call a morning person. I like quiet and no conflict for the first hour or two of the day. I also am not a big breakfast person. Just never have been. I prepare breakfast meals maybe four times a year. We usually eat cereal or oatmeal or Cream of Rice/Wheat or eat oat bars or crackers. I know, it's awful. So, a couple weekends ago after my kiddo woke up, I asked her if she would be interested in some chocolate chip muffins. Not my thing, but I know she likes them, and I had pinned a recipe on Pinterest for them: Chocolate Chip Muffins several months ago. The recipe was very easy to follow, and she liked them a lot and finished off all the muffins for breakfast and snacks during the next week, so all-in-all I consider it a success.

1 1/3 cup butter, softened
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
4 medium eggs
1 cup sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup milk
2 1/2 cups flour
¾ lb chocolate chips



Preheat oven to 400 degrees, and prepare muffin pans with butter - I ended up with 18 muffins. In small bowl combine baking powder, salt, and flour, set aside. In large bowl combine butter and vanilla until light and fluffy. You can use a hand mixer, or like I did, use a stand mixer.

 

Slowly beat in eggs, until combined. Add milk. Slowly add sugar, until completely combined. Mix flour mixture into butter until just combined, but still lumpy. 

Add chocolate chips and combine. Pour mixture into muffin pans, filling each cup two-thirds full. 

Bake for 25 minutes or until muffins turn golden brown, and a toothpick inserted into center of muffin comes out clean.

Chocolate Muffins

Chocolate for breakfast??? Yes, please! I think I've died and gone to heaven!!! This is a recipe I found while searching for some muffin ideas a couple of weeks ago. Of course, I pinned this one and several others to my Pinterest page. Finally got around to trying it out this weekend. I made it for Monday treat at work. While they are indeed rather tasty, I think I will add just a bit more sugar next time. They are very chocolatey, but they were not very sweet, and I prefer them to be sweeter. This is where I found the original recipe: Chocolate Muffins. They were very easy to make, and I ended up with two full trays of mini muffins.

2 cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup cocoa powder
¾ cup granulated sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
½ tsp salt

1¼ cups whole milk
2 large eggs, beaten
2 Tbsp butter, melted
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, plus 1/3 cup additional chocolate chips for sprinkling

Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl, and the wet ingredients in another.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and grease muffin pan or use liners. Pour wet ingredients into dry, and stir just until mixed (batter will be visibly lumpy). Stir in chocolate chips. Spoon immediately into muffin pan. Add chocolate chips to the tops of the muffins.

Bake for 18-20 minutes for regular muffins; 9-12 minutes for mini muffins. Check muffins for doneness by inserting a toothpick. When it comes out clean, they are done, but be aware that you may see some of the chocolate chips that are in the batter, so, check several.

Zucchini Muffins

The other day, I went on a quest to find some muffin recipes to try so that my daughter could have some new treats for breakfast. I found several recipes that I'm going to try, and of course, I pinned the recipes I found to my Pinterest. This particular recipe is for Zucchini Muffins. They were surprisingly easy to make, and I think they turned out pretty good. I believe the next time I make them I will use 1 1/4 or 1/2 cups of sugar to sweeten them just a little bit more. My daughter said they were really good and ate the entire muffin... until I told her what they were. lol

2 medium eggs
1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
1 cup of shredded zucchini (I used two zucchinis, which was a bit more than 1 cup)
1 1/2 cup of sugar
½ cup of vegetable oil
½ cup of chopped walnuts
1 tsp of baking soda
½ tsp of salt
¼ tsp of baking powder
1 tsp (heaping) cinnamon

Mix together the vegetable oil, sugar and eggs. Add the shredded zucchini, flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Fold in the chopped walnuts.

Lightly grease muffin pan, then fill two-thirds full with the mixture. I was able to fill a mini-muffin pan, and 9/12 of a regular muffin pan. 

Bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes for regular muffins, 10-15 minutes for mini-muffins. Tops should begin to turn a golden brown color, and you can use the toothpick test to ensure they are done.

French Breakfast Muffins

I'm always on the lookout for something new to try, and muffins to change up breakfast definitely sounds like a good idea to me. So, when I found this pin on Pinterest, I knew I was going to have to give it try. Here's the link to the original post: Velvet Lava Cafe French Breakfast Muffins. These muffins have a great texture and flavor, with just that hint of nutmeg, and when is butter, sugar and cinnamon EVER a bad combination??? I tried something a little different from how the recipe is listed, and although the end result is pretty decent, it makes one heck of a mess. lol I may eventually try them word-for-word as the directions list.

1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg (I use a heaping 1/4 tsp)
1/3 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup milk
1 egg (at room temperature)

Topping
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium-large bowl, sift together dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients and stir just until combined, but still a bit lumpy. Scoop batter into muffin tin that has been sprayed with cooking spray (I used Baker's Joy). Bake for 20-25 minutes. Mix cinnamon and sugar in one bowl, and put melted butter in a second. Dip the warm muffins into the butter, then dip/roll the muffin in the sugar mixture. This is where I differed. I created a crumbly top with the butter, sugar and cinnamon, but let me tell you, it takes much more than 1/2 cup of sugar to get a crumbly mixture out of 1/2 cup melted butter. I kept adding sugar until I got the right consistency. Then I spread it around on the muffins BEFORE I cooked them. Not sure I recommend this path - as I said, it is very, very messy as the topping melts, but much of it does stick to the muffin. Play and decide what works best for you.