Happy Monday, lovely people! After weeks of excess and over the top muffins, it feels good to get back to simple, yet still delicious. My daughters left Dubai to return to the US and university over the weekend, so you know I need some cheering up. And there is hardly anything more cheerful than the smell of freshly zested lemons, am I right?
That’s why they put it in cleaning materials too, by the way. It is part of the brainwashing program designed by marketing types to convince us that cleaning is fun and uplifting and we should buy more lemon-scented soaps and sprays. But I tell you no lies: These muffins are the real thing. Get some in the oven and you will feel better in no time.
Lemon Blueberry Muffins
Adapted from this BBC recipe.Ingredients
For the muffins:
2 cups or 250g flour
1/2 cup or 115g sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 large lemon (for zest and 1/4 cup juice)
2 eggs
3/4 cup or 180ml milk
1/3 cup or 75ml vegetable oil
1 small punnet blueberries (about 125g or 4.4 oz) Reserve 12 for popping on the top of the muffins before baking, if desired.
For the topping:
Powdered or icing sugar to sprinkle, optional
Method
Preheat your oven to 375°F or 190°C. Butter your 12-cup muffin tin or line it with paper liners.
Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a large mixing bowl.
Grate in the lemon zest and mix. Juice your lemon.
In another smaller bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, milk, juice and oil.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ones and stir until just mixed through.
Fold in all the blueberries, except 12, if saving.
Divide the mixture between the muffin cups in pan.
If you saved berries for the top, now is the time to pop one on the top of each cup. (They might still sink, but I figured it was worth a shot.)
Bake in your preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until golden.
Allow them to cool for a few minutes then remove the muffins to a wire rack to cool completely.
Sprinkle with a little powdered or icing sugar, if desired, and serve.
Enjoy!
Lemons and blueberries...natural companions and muffin perfection! These sound lovely and the perfect way to start any day.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Kate! I sent them off to the office with my husband - it's my new thing - and the plate came back empty.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely adorable. This would certainly bright up anyones day! I haven't baked with blueberries in a minute. I should take some from the freezer. I feel inspired!
ReplyDeleteThese look fantastic!! I'm seemingly obsessed with lemons and blueberries right now so you KNOW I'll be making these soon with some blueberries I froze over the summer.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Kelli! I read something online just the other day suggesting that frozen blueberries are the best ones to use because then your berries don't stain the muffin batter. Not that I've ever found that a problem. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Lyn! They cheered me up. Read my comment to Kelli above re: frozen blueberries!
ReplyDeleteI love blueberry and lemon muffins. I always make a topping of sugar and lemon zest for the top but maybe I'll cut the sugar and put the zest in the muffin or maybe I'll roll my eyes and do both. They look wonderful.
ReplyDeleteI cannot tell you how close I came to doing both, Maureen! But then I decided to take a deep breath and just sprinkle on some powdered sugar. And it felt good. But I may make a different decision next time. :)
ReplyDeleteYou have way more self control than I do when it comes to blueberry muffins. I can close my eyes and see muffins my mother made back in Maine from wild blueberries and then I pop the topping on. :)
ReplyDeleteAh, perhaps because sweet is not really my thing. Where I have no restraint is in adding cheese upon cheese into the batter of a savory muffin. Can. Not. Stop. And then some grated cheese on top.
ReplyDeleteBlueberry muffins, so delicious and yet I've never made them. High time I tried it.
ReplyDeleteI love the combination of the lemon with the blueberries !
ReplyDeleteMe too, Carolyn!
ReplyDeleteI love the blueberries and lemon combo in anything! My husband tried the combo in whoopie pies and it was delicious! Pinning so I can add this to my lemon board. :-)
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