Snowmageddon Blueberry Muffins

What do you do when there is a raging blizzard outside with ‘life and death implications’? That is a very good question. I’m quite sure there is something I’m meant to be doing… like trying to prevent the pipes from freezing… or somehow sealing the windows/doors to keep any melting snow from seeping into my living room.

But, since that is all foreign to this Aussie who is used to being at the beach in January, I’m making muffins. The BEST blueberry muffins ever, actually. They are light and fluffy with a sparkling sugar crust, and an intense blueberry flavor that is achieved by pre-cooking some of the berries into a thick jam that is added to the batter along with fresh, uncooked berries.

Whether its ‘snowmageddon’ outside and you are baking because there is nothing else to do, or its a perfect summer day and you are cooking for a brunch crowd – these muffins are a hit.

Ingredients

Makes 12 muffins

If buttermilk is unavailable (because maybe its smowmageddon outside), substitute 3/4 cup plain whole-milk or low-fat yogurt thinned with 1/4 cup milk.

Sparkling Lemon-Sugar Topping

• 1/3 cup sugar (2 1/3 ounces)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons finely grated zest from 1 lemon

Muffins

• 2 cups fresh blueberries (about 10 ounces), picked over
• 1 1/8 cups sugar (8 ounces) plus 1 teaspoon
• 2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (12 1/2 ounces)
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon table salt
• 2 large eggs
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup buttermilk (see note)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Method

• FOR THE TOPPING: Stir together sugar and lemon zest in small bowl until combined; set aside.
• FOR THE MUFFINS: Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees. Spray standard muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray. Bring 1 cup blueberries and 1 teaspoon sugar to simmer in small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, mashing berries with spoon several times and stirring frequently, until berries have broken down and mixture is thickened and reduced to ¼ cup, about 6 minutes. Transfer to small bowl and cool to room temperature, 10 to 15 minutes.
• Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in large bowl. Whisk remaining 1 1/8 cups sugar and eggs together in medium bowl until thick and homogeneous, about 45 seconds. Slowly whisk in butter and oil until combined. Whisk in buttermilk and vanilla until combined. Using rubber spatula, fold egg mixture and remaining cup blueberries into flour mixture until just moistened. (Batter will be very lumpy with few spots of dry flour; do not overmix.)
• Divide batter equally among prepared muffin cups (batter should completely fill cups and mound slightly). Spoon teaspoon of cooked berry mixture into center of each mound of batter. Using chopstick or skewer, gently swirl berry filling into batter using figure-eight motion. Sprinkle lemon sugar evenly over muffins.
• Bake until muffin tops are golden and just firm, 17 to 19 minutes, rotating muffin tin from front to back halfway through baking time. Cool muffins in muffin tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack and cool 5 minutes before serving.