The Blueberry Muffin is the most popular muffin, and with Easter this weekend, my Blueberry Nut Muffins are ideal to serve for breakfast or include in your Easter Brunch. Make-n-bake in under an hour.
No sweat if fresh blueberries are in season in your neighborhood; a good quality frozen berry will do just fine.
Tip: Stock up your freezer with extra blueberries for recipes like this. Store whole fresh berries in sealed plastic storage bags for up to six months.
Tip: Did you know that tossing blueberries with flour before adding them to the batter will prevent them from sinking to the bottom of the muffin during baking?
Blueberry Nut Muffins
Recipe by George Hirsch | Makes 10-12 muffins
For the topping:
1/3 cup light brown sugar
2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 Tablespoons nuts, walnuts, or pecans, chopped into 1/4-inch pieces
1 Tablespoon sweet butter
Mix brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and nuts in a small bowl. Blend butter in with a fork until the mixture is crumb-like.
For the muffin mix:
1/2 cup sweet butter, room temperature
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon flour for coating blueberries, plus greasing muffin cups
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups fresh blueberries
1 cup pure cane granulated sugar
2 large eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon grated orange zest
1/2 cup milk
Grease a regular-size 12-cup muffin pan with butter and dust with flour, banging out excess flour, or use muffin cup liners.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl.
In a separate bowl, use a mixer to cream butter and sugar at medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Add vanilla and orange zest to beaten eggs, then add eggs one at a time, mixing until eggs are absorbed.
With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture and milk in three stages, mixing until all are incorporated. Do not overmix.
Toss blueberries in a fine strainer with about one Tablespoon of flour to lightly coat. Using a rubber spatula, fold in 1 1/2 cups of the blueberries. Place batter into muffin cups with an ice cream scoop or large spoon, filling each cup to three-quarters full. Add the remaining 1/2 cup of blueberries on top of the muffins and divide the crumb topping over the muffins.
Bake for about 25-30 minutes, until muffins are golden brown. Check muffins halfway through and rotate if the oven temperature is uneven. Test with a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin; it should come out clean, or when touched lightly, the muffin should have a slight resistance to finger pressure.
Remove from oven and allow muffins to cool in pan for 10 minutes, then remove muffins from pan.
