Blueberry Buttermilk Muffins
Muffins are a wonderful summer breakfast food. Easy to bake fresh in the morning, especially when the dry ingredients are measured the day before, they pair beautifully with fresh fruit and yogurt, or overnight oats, and good coffee for a delicious morning repast.
To me, blueberry muffins are the quintessential summer muffin. These Blueberry Buttermilk Muffins are tender, just barely sweet, and packed with juicy blueberries. A touch of oat flour adds a subtle nutty, toasty note. The buttermilk in the recipe enhances the tenderness and provides a softer crumb.
I was hesitant to include another blueberry muffin recipe, as I remain partial to the old Seven Layers Blueberry Muffins, —the old Seven Layers version—a staple of every summer morning’s pastry offerings. But really, one can never have too many blueberry muffin recipes. And since one calls for whole milk and the other for buttermilk, the choice may come down to what’s already in your refrigerator.
This very easy recipe from The Ultimate Muffin Book, by Bruce Weinstein, is made by simply combining the wet and dry ingredients. The topping recipe is from Muffins by Beth Hensperger, a WIlliams-Sonoma title.
Blueberry Buttermilk Muffins
| Yield: 12 muffins | # of Servings: 12 | Method: Muffin | Difficulty: Easy |
Topping:
¼ cup (1.2 oz / 34 g) all-purpose flour
2 tbl (.5 oz / 14 g) granulated sugar
2 tbl (.5 oz / 14 g) light brown sugar
¼ tsp cinnamon
2 tbl (1 oz / 28 g) unsalted butter, cold, cut into small pieces
Muffins:
1 tbl (0.3 oz / 9 g) all-purpose flour
1-pint blueberries, washed, picked through, and dried on a clean dish cloth or paper towel
1 ¾ cup (8.15 oz / 231 g) all-purpose flour
½ cup (2.05 oz / 58 g) oat flour
½ cup (3.5 oz / 99 g) granulated sugar
1 tbl (.50 oz / 11 g) baking powder1
â…“ tsp sea salt
1 large egg, room temperature
¾ cup buttermilk, whole milk preferred
8 tbl unsalted butter, melted and cooled2
1 tsp vanilla extract
Special tools and equipment needed:
- One standard 12-well muffin tin
- Muffin pan liners
- 1 2â€, 1.55 oz scoop, optional
- Cooling rack
Pre-recipe preparations:
- Bring butter to room temperature (time depending on temperature of room)
- Bring egg and buttermilk to room temperature (approx. 20 minutes)
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
Directions
Topping:
- Stir together dry ingredients in small mixing bowl.
- Add the butter pieces and, using a pastry cutter, cut until coarse crumbs. Set aside in the refrigerator.
Muffins: Preheat oven to 400°F
- Toss the berries with the 1 tbl of flour. Set aside.
- Whisk together the flour, oat flour, granulated sugar, baking powder and sea salt in a large mixing bowl. Set aside.
- Whisk the egg in a medium mixing bowl. Add buttermilk, melted butter, and vanilla extract and whisk until smooth.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and gently mix once. Add the blueberries and stir just until all the flour is moistened. If you see any small pockets of dry flour, use your finger or a chopstick to gently mix them in—this avoids overmixing the entire batter.
- Using a 2†wide scoop, or ¼ cup measuring cup, fill each muffin well about ¾ full.
- Bake until the muffins are firm to the touch and lightly browned, about 17 to 20 minutes.
- Let cool for 10 minutes. Carefully remove to a cooling rack. Enjoy warm or at room temperature.
Baking notes:
- As with any recipe with a large amount of baking powder, use of aluminum free baking powder makes a big difference.
- If the butter is too hot, it will coagulate when it hits the buttermilk.
