Recipe: Blueberry Coffee Cake Muffins

This week is Staff Appreciation week at our school. (It's also Teacher Appreciation Week nationwide.) In addition to a luncheon that our parent group organizes for Friday, we bring in goodies all week long. Today, I brought in two types of homemade muffins: Blueberry Coffee Cake Muffins (recipe by Ina Garten)  and Banana-Pecan Muffins (recipe by Tyler Florence).  The banana muffins will require some tweaking for my altitude since they turned out a little on the dry side for my taste, but the blueberry ones? Perfect!

I have been on a quest for the perfect blueberry muffin for a while now. Most of the muffins I've made have been tough, dry, and just kind of meh. Even when I am very careful not to overmix and watch my oven like a creepy stalker. But these are moist, tender, and not overly sweet.  They kept fine overnight, although the tops got a little sticky, so be careful how you cover them.



Blueberry Coffee Cake Muffins
By Ina Garten

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
8 ounces (about 1 cup) sour cream
1/4 cup milk
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 half-pints fresh blueberries, picked through for stems

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place 16 paper liners in muffin pans.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. With the mixer on low speed, add the eggs 1 at a time, then add the vanilla, sour cream, and milk. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer on low speed add the flour mixture to the batter and beat until just mixed. Fold in the blueberries with a spatula and be sure the batter is completely mixed.
Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin pans, filling each cup just over the top, and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the muffins are lightly browned on top and a cake tester comes out clean.

I was able to get about 18 muffins from each batch. I filled to just below the top, making sure the top of the pan was greased so the tops didn't stick. Another key step? Remove the muffins immediately from the pan as soon as you take them out of the oven. You might get some singed fingers, but the muffins will overbake if you let them cool inside the pan. Mine were perfectly done at 24 minutes.