Blueberry Muffins

I love going to the market and seeing what produce is fresh. And now that spring is here, all the fruits and veggies are starting to look and taste so much better! This past week the blueberries looked amazing, so I decided to make blueberry muffins for breakfast. Muffins are such an easy breakfast to make – one hour and you have a delicious freshly baked meal!  There are so many great muffin recipes out there, I always have a hard time deciding which one to make.

I went with this King Arthur Flour recipe because the reviews were so amazing, and because I happened to have some White Whole Wheat flour in my pantry. I always like to sneak in some whole wheat when I can. I try to trick TheBetterHalf, but he can usually tell when wheat is involved – much too healthy for him! I think the white whole wheat flour works very well in this muffin though. The muffins were light and fluffy, with just a bit of wheat flavor. The almond extract really adds something special, although be careful not to put in more than 1/4 tsp – a little of that goes a long way! The original directions say that the cinnamon sugar on top is optional, but really, who wouldn’t want cinnamon sugar on top of their muffin?! So in my recipe, it is not optional :).

Creaming the butter and sugar.

Mix in the dry ingredients, then add in the milk.  The flour is what gives it this tan color.  White whole wheat is not totally white…

Toss the blueberries in some flour before you mix them in.  This will help prevent them from sinking in the muffins.

Before and after!

Bursting with blueberries!

The cinnamon sugar on top really makes these!!

Blueberry Muffins
Recipe from King Arthur Flour

Ingredients
6 tablespoons (3 ounces) butter
3/4 cup (5 1/4 ounces) sugar
2 large eggs
2 cups (8 1/2 ounces) White Whole Wheat Flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1 1/2 to 2 cups (about 1 pint) blueberries
1 tablespoon sugar mixed with 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Instructions
Preheat your oven to 375°F. Grease 12 muffin cups generously; a vegetable oil pan spray works well.

In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until they’re light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture, and beat well. Stir in the milk, and vanilla and almond extracts, mixing only until smooth. Toss the berries in 1 T of flour (this step is optional) and quickly stir in the berries.

Fill the muffin cups 3/4 to almost full, using all of the batter. Sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar. Bake the muffins for 25 to 30 minutes, until they’re light golden brown, remove them from the oven, and place the pan on a rack to cool for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, run a knife around the edge of one muffin, and try to lift it out of the pan. (These muffins are very tender, and if they don’t cool long enough, they’ll crumble when you try to remove them from the pan.) If the muffin lifts out of the pan without crumbling, remove all of the muffins and cool them completely on a wire rack. If the muffin sticks or the top peels off, allow them to cool an additional 10 minutes, then try again. Yield: 12 muffins.