Blueberry Muffins with Cinnamon Sugar Topping

I have a strange relationship with blueberries. I don’t really like them on their own, but I very much enjoy them IN stuff – muffins, pancakes, scones, etc. (This is in stark contrast to my relationship with bananas – in general, I like them on their own, but NOT in stuff. I enjoy banana bread, but no banana pancakes, no banana pudding, no banana-flavored candy. No.)

Anyways, I find myself craving blueberry muffins… kind of often. I don’t know if it’s just because a blueberry muffin sort of screams “quintessential breakfast item!” to me, or what – but there you have it. My name is Tina, and I frequently crave blueberry muffins. Make of that what you will.

I’m sorry, is that not the cutest, tiniest blueberry you’ve ever seen? I thought so.

A few weeks back, I came across a beautiful blueberry muffin on Pinterest, so I put blueberries on my grocery list, and whipped some up this past Saturday. My husband has consumed no fewer than 2 of these muffins per day (3, most days), so I will consider that an enthusiastic endorsement. I have managed to limit myself to one per day, but that may also have something to do with the fact that I don’t have the metabolism of a 14-year-old boy, as my husband does. Life just ain’t fair.

Blueberry Muffins
adapted from here
makes about 18

2 eggs
1 cup sugar
4 T butter, melted and cooled slightly
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 T baking powder
1/2 t salt
1 1/4 cups plain greek yogurt (low-fat is okay, but don’t use fat-free)
1 1/2 cups blueberries, washed and dried

1.) Preheat your oven to 350°. In a large mixing bowl, whisk sugar and eggs together. Slowly pour your cooled melted butter into the egg mixture, whisking it in as you go.

2.) In a separate bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together. Add 1/3 of this flour mixture to the wet ingredients, and gently fold it in with a rubber spatula until JUST combined (it’s okay if you can see traces of flour, still).

3.) Add half the greek yogurt, and again, fold in until just combined. Add another third of the flour mixture, the rest of the yogurt, and the rest of the flour mixture, gently folding each addition in as you go, being careful not to over-mix. It’s okay if you can still see small streaks of flour in the batter once you’ve added everything in.

4.) Add the blueberries to your batter, and (say it with me now) gently fold them in, being careful not to break the berries.

5.) Spray a muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray or line it with paper liners, and fill each cup about 2/3 of the way. Bake 25 minutes or so, until the muffins are browned, and a toothpick inserted into the middle of a muffin comes out clean (I’d start checking them around 18 minutes, in case your oven runs hot).

Let the muffins cool for about 8 to 10 minutes before placing them on a wire rack. If you’d like, you can add a cinnamon sugar topping to them at this point: simply melt 4 T of butter in one bowl, and mix 1/4 cup sugar and 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon in another bowl. Lightly dip the top of each muffin into the butter, and then into the cinnamon sugar, then place them back on the wire rack to cool completely.

Muffins are a perfect weekend breakfast – they take about 5 minutes to throw together, and while they’re baking, you can brew up some coffee or tea, fix yourself a bowl of greek yogurt drizzled with some honey, and cue up your DVRed shows from the hectic work week. And then you can enjoy the leftovers all week long!

Blueberries were made for baked goods,
Tina