Muffins are a great treat, working well as an after dinner dessert or an evening snack and the best part about them is they fall under quick dessert recipes. These blueberry muffins are sweet, tangy and refreshing. They also look brilliant, with the blueberries giving their strong, bright color to the muffins. The muffins are soft, moist and will melt on the tongue. They can be topped with any topping of your choice. You can sprinkle some cocoa powder or cinnamon powder before you bake it. Or you can press single blueberries into the middle of the batter in each cupcake liner before baking, for a fun treat inside. You can also serve them as is, because they are already packed with flavor.
Ingredients:
For the brown sugar topping:
- 100 gm packed light or dark brown sugar
- 67 gm chopped walnuts (or pecans)
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
For the muffins:
- 219 gm all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 113 gm unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 100 gm granulated sugar
- 50 g packed light or dark brown sugar
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 120 gm sour cream or plain/vanilla yogurt, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 60 ml milk, at room temperature
- 210 gm fresh or frozen blueberries
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F or 177°C.
- Grease a muffin pan or line with cupcake liners. Set aside.
- In a bowl, add the sugar, walnuts and cinnamon. Mix well and set aside.
- In another bowl, add the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Mix well and set aside.
- In a bowl, add the butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar and beat with a handheld mixer or a stand mixer with a paddle attachment. Beat until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is smooth and creamy.
- Then add the eggs, one at a time, incorporating them thoroughly into the mix.
- Next, add the sour cream and vanilla extract and beat until combined.
- Now add the prepared dry ingredients and the milk into the mixture. Beat until no flour pockets remain and all lumps are cleared out.
- It's now time to add the blueberries and fold them in gently, using a rubber spatula or spoon.
- Spoon this batter into the liners or tray and add the brown sugar topping on top of each. Slightly press the sugar mixture so that it sticks to the surface of the batter.
- Bake for around 25 minutes. The exact time will depend on the machine you're using. If you're making mini muffins, 12-15 minutes of baking should suffice. You’ll know it's done when a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Once done, remove and place on a wire rack to cool.
- Serve cool, with ice cream, whipped cream or as is.
- Leftover muffins can be stored at room temperature for 4 days and in the fridge for a week. They can also be frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight and then at room temperature before eating.
Notes, tips and tricks:
- Sour cream is the best option, as given in the recipe, since it adds moisture and softness to the muffins. But if you don't have that, plain yogurt will also work. And in a real pinch or if you have dietary restrictions, you can also substitute it with mashed bananas.
- Any type of milk will work for this recipe. It can be full fat, whole milk or skimmed or 2%. Or you can use a non-dairy milk if you have dietary restrictions, like almond milk, oat milk or soy milk.
- If you don't have sour cream and no milk on hand, you can use buttermilk instead, 180 ml is good. Both sour cream and milk are recommended to be kept at room temperature. And so if you're going to use buttermilk instead, make sure that it is at room temperature too.
- The butter should be at room temperature. If you have cold butter it won't mix well and the dough will become too crumbly. And if you try to melt it and use it then the batter will turn out too runny. It's best to keep butter out at room temperature, let it cool naturally and then use soft butter.