If you’re like me and enjoy skipping the boxed mix for cakes, cupcakes, brownies and muffins, when you can 😉 but prefer a recipe to help you out a bit, then you need to know about Cook’s Illustrated.
If you’re not familiar it’s published by the people from America’s Test Kitchen, so there is a lot of trial and error and science behind their cooking, (perfect for my Hubby who loves to know how and why things work) We’ve tried several of their recipes and haven’t had a bad one yet!
So here is the Cook’s Illustrated recipe for:
Best Blueberry Muffins with Streusel Topping
Streusel Topping
- 3tablespoons granulated sugar
- 3tablespoons dark brown sugar
- Pinch table salt
- 1/2cup plus 3 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour (3 1/2 ounces)
- 5tablespoons unsalted butter , melted and warm
I find that when I’m baking and I measure by weight, that my recipes turn out better because the ingredients are more precise. You can use a food scale, just be sure to tare the scale after you place whatever receptacle you’ll be placing your ingredients in on it.
Instructions for the topping:
Stir together sugar, brown sugar, salt, and flour in small bowl until combined. Drizzle with warm butter and toss with fork until evenly moistened and mixture forms large chunks with some pea-sized pieces throughout. Set aside.
Muffins
- 2cups fresh blueberries (about 10 ounces), washed and picked over
- 1 1/8cups sugar (8 ounces) plus 1 teaspoon
- 2 1/2cups unbleached all-purpose flour (12 1/2 ounces)
- 2 1/2teaspoons baking powder
- 1teaspoon table salt
- 2large eggs
- 4tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter , melted and cooled slightly
- 1/4cup vegetable oil
- 1cup buttermilk
- 1 1/2teaspoons vanilla extract
*Did you know that if you don’t have buttermilk on hand that you can substitute 3/4 cup of yogurt thinned with 1/4 cup of milk??? I didn’t but it worked…and it saved me a trip back to the store!!!
FOR THE MUFFINS:
Heat your oven to 425 degrees and spray your muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray
Bring 1cup of blueberries and 1teaspoon of sugar to simmer in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir frequently while cooking and mash the berries with a spoon until they have broken down and the mixture is thickened and reduced to 1/4cup (about 6 min)
Transfer to a small bowl and cool to room temperature 10-15 minutes.
Next, whisk your flour, baking powder, and salt together in large bowl and set aside.
Then whisk 1 1/8 cups sugar and eggs together in medium bowl until thick, about 45 seconds.
Slowly whisk in butter and oil, then the buttermilk and vanilla until combined
Using a rubber spatula, fold the egg mixture
and remaining cup blueberries into flour mixture
Mix until just moistened (being careful not to overmix) your batter should be lumpy
Use an ice cream scoop or a large spoon to divide batter equally among prepared muffin cups (batter should completely fill cups and mound slightly).
Spoon a teaspoon of the cooked berry mixture into center of each mound of batter.
Using a chopstick or skewer, gently swirl berry filling into batter using figure-eight motion.
Sprinkle streusel topping evenly over muffins and bake until muffin tops are golden (about 17 to 19 minutes), rotating muffin tin from front to back halfway through baking time. Cool muffins in muffin tin for 5 minutes,
Then transfer to wire rack and cool 5 minutes before serving
Cut your muffin in half and put a pad of your favorite butter in the middle…
I like to close my muffin back up after I put the butter on it so it melts a little on both sides 🙂
…or if you prefer your muffins plain that’s fine too because these muffins are so good that they still taste great! And you can enjoy them in the morning with your coffee, or at night with a glass of milk 🙂
Sweet Bakes and Baby Cakes 