Blueberry Muffins

I’ve made many variations of muffins, but for some reason never the classic blueberry. This summer I’ve thrown away so many tubs of blueberries as I’ve always started out with good intentions and never got round to actually using them, so after 10 weeks I decided enough was enough. Time to take the bull by the horns – so to speak! – and tackle for once and for all.

The original recipe is from The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook, my variation is below.

Ingredients:
180g plain flour
185g caster sugar
½ tsp salt
¾ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda
188ml buttermilk
1 small egg
¼ tsp vanilla extract
35g unsalted butter, melted
125g blueberries

Method:
Preheat the oven to 170 degrees Celsius (325 degrees Fahrenheit) Gas 3.

Mix the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda in a large bowl. Put the buttermilk, egg and vanilla extract into a jug and mix to combine. Slowly pour into the flour mixture and beat until fully incorporated with a hand-held electric mixer.

Pour in the melted butter and beat until smooth.

Gently fold in the blueberries with a wooden spoon until evenly dispersed.

Spoon the mixture into paper cases until 2/3 full and bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown and the sponges bounce back when touched. A skewer – when inserted – should come out clean.

Leave the muffins to cool slightly in the tray before turning out onto a wire cooling rack to cool completely.

I overfilled the cases slightly, so I’d recommend 1 tablespoon of batter, check how full the cases are and if they need more add a teaspoon at a time. I ended up with a tray of muffin mix with hidden cases – not ideal! This recipe should produce around 8 muffins, but if you double the quantities of ingredients (the original recipe was double) then stick to 1 egg instead of going up to 2: just go from small to large.

That being said, they were exactly as they were supposed to be; soft, moist and light, despite the slightly odd appearance! Try them out – this is a classic American treat, and perfect with a strong cup of tea to start the day.