i’m as wary as anyone else when i hear “best” attached to something- the best pastrami (this title belongs to katz in nyc but i’m willing to listen to closer suggestions), the best coffee, the best whatever. but these best blueberry muffins are really good. the topping is crunchy and lemony, and the muffins are so tender and packed with berries. they do take some time, but i swear they’re worth it, as evidenced by the fact that this is my 3rd time making this recipe and that i haven’t made any other blueberry muffin since finding this one. they’re best warm, with a cup of something hot (i’m always down for some earl grey or english breakfast, or even green even though that’s kind of weird), eaten with a person who will hopefully do all the dishes for you because there are a lot. i won’t lie.
i’ve made some slight modifications. instead of using fresh blueberries for the cooked down swirl, i used frozen. i find that the frozen costco berries are quite flavorful, and they’re a lot cheaper than fresh berries. you can do all frozen if you want; it works either way. it might not seem like it will when the berries bleed into the batter and make it that ugly gray/blue, but don’t worry. chris kimball and co. (update 11/16/15: chris is leaving ;__; i'll miss him always failing jack's taste tests) want you to succeed. i also cut down on the sugar in the muffins from 1 ⅛ cups to 1 cup.
america’s test kitchen says to transfer the compote to another bowl; there’s no need to, unless you’d like to torture yourself washing more dishes. or if you want, you can use blueberry jam instead of cooking down your own compote to cut back on time/energy/dishes. the muffins will definitely be sweeter, so be a bit wary of doing this if you tend to like lightly sweetened things. atk also notes that the batter will be very lumpy and that the batter will mound in the cups; both are true, so don’t freak out if the batter looks nasty or the cups seem too full.
the resulting muffins are huge, and might scare away a more timid person, but i believe in your muffin consuming abilities. they’re super moist on the inside, with a really crunchy edge and top. the edge gets browned and crunchy, and the top owes its deliciousness to the fragrant lemon sugar. there’s a hint of lemon, and a ton of blueberry. you’re welcome.
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- finely grated zest from 1 lemon
- 2 cups blueberries about 10 ounces
- 1 cup + 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 eggs room temperature
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter melted and cooled slightly
- ¼ cup canola oil
- 1 cup buttermilk room temperature
- finely grated zest of 1 lemon optional; use it if you like lemon
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
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Mix the sugar and zest together until the sugar is moistened.
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Bring 1 cup berries and 1 teaspoon sugar to simmer in small saucepan. Cook, mashing and stirring berries frequently, until berries have broken down, mixture is thickened and reduced to ¼ cup, about 6 minutes. Cool to room temperature, 10 to 15 minutes.
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Whisk dry ingredients in large bowl. Whisk 1 cup sugar and eggs in medium bowl until thick and homogeneous. Slowly whisk in the fat until combined. Whisk in buttermilk, lemon zest (if using) and vanilla until combined. Fold wet mixture and remaining berries into flour mixture until just moistened (lumpy is fine). If the batter seems loose, let it mellow for 5 minutes (and start on those dishes, sigh), and it will thicken up.
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Divide among 12 greased muffin cups (batter should completely fill cups). Spoon 1 teaspoon cooked berries into center of each mound; gently swirl into batter using a toothpick and a figure-eight motion. Sprinkle lemon sugar over muffins.
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Bake at 425F until tops are golden and just firm, 17 to 19 minutes. Cool in muffin tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack and cool 5 minutes before serving.
Adapted slightly from America’s Test Kitchen.
You can use frozen or fresh blueberries, or a mixture of the two. If using frozen berries for compote, no need to thaw. If using frozen berries for folding into muffins, make sure you thaw and drain the extra liquid so that the muffins don’t get gummy.
Madeline Hall says
These look great! I love pretty much anything with blueberries in it...especially in the form of muffins : )
http://madelinemarieblog.com/
Heather says
thanks! and same; had some blueberry chocolate chip pancakes today and they made me very happy.
Yvette Carling says
Just divine! Thanks for adopting the ATF recipe & putting it here.
These are perfection in a blueberry muffin. I’m so often turned off by gummy-not-cooked thoroughly commercially-produced muffins. These are spongey & cooked all the way! Thank you again for sharing! Not an ATK subscriber and how I found your variation, I’m curious to know what you altered to make it your own. Care to share? Lemon-Blueberry hugs!
Yvette Carling says
I continue to make these “tried ‘n true blues!” On a funny note, I accidentally dropped dash of mint extract into the wet ingredients before realizing it was not vanilla & decided to slog through it and test the end result. Interestingly enough, numerous mint-blueberry concoctions on the Internet brought consolation before the first bite! Rare is anything original! 🙂 Anyway, they have an interesting twist, but would likely not repeat it! Next time, I may play by adding Earl Gray Tea…Thanks again! May Jesus be the Lord of your life……
lynn says
my favorite blueberry muffins ever make for gifts and they are suprised that the muffin has no lemon in it just the top... excellent and delicious thanks alot for this recipe been making since I saw it Marvin your show great job... lynn
Heather says
glad you like these so much lynn! america's test kitchen always has such tasty recipes (:
Jen says
These are the best I've ever made in my life. If they aren't good then you messed up and cooked to long or something else. I've made these for years and lost by recipe. Thanks
Nan says
We are trying to reduce carbs and sugar so I substituted 1/2 of the white flour with equal amounts of millet flour and whole wheat pastry flour, and reduced the sugar to 3/4 cup. I added grated lemon peal to the batter and added a sprinkle of freshly grated nutmeg. The muffins turned out great. I love this recipe. The cooked blueberries add so much extra flavor.
Heather says
glad that worked out for you, nan! i definitely need to try using millet flour and play around with different kinds of flour, and it sounds like these muffins might be the perfect place to test them (:
Jane says
I made these yesterday, baked 19 minutes because they weren’t brown at 17, and they are very dry! Disappointing! Thoughts??
Heather says
oh no, i'm sorry they were dry ): did you test with a toothpick at any point (and if so, what was the texture of the inside like)? how dark was your muffin pan (i notice that when i use darker muffin pans, muffins can sometimes cook faster since the heat gets absorbed more easily than light/shiny pans)?
Kat says
Best blueberry muffins hands down. I know because literally have tried dozens and dozens of recipes looking for muffin that wasn't boring and lacked flavor and just wasn't typically what you have come to expect from an average muffin. When I take these somewhere they literally vanish within moments. Try them you won't be dissapointed.