FOOD FRIDAY - BLUEBERRY MUFFINS

“Baking makes me focus. On weighing the sugar. On sieving the flour. I find it calming and rewarding because, in fairness, it is sort of magic – you start off with all this disparate stuff, such as butter and eggs, and what you end up with is so totally different. And also delicious.” – Marian Keyes

One of the recipes we brought back with us after our last trip to the USA some years ago was this one for blueberry muffins. We stayed at a wonderful little boutique hotel in Seattle, which served these delicious home-made muffins for breakfast and the very friendly and amiable hostess was kind enough to give us the recipe.

BLUEBERRY MUFFINS

Ingredients

2 cups self-raising flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 pinch of salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 cup caster sugar

2 large eggs

1 and1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 cup milk

2 and 1/2 cups blueberries

2 tablespoons demerara sugar (for topping, if desired)

Non-stick cooking spray

12 silicone muffin cases

Method

Preheat the oven to 200°C. Spray the muffin cases with non-stick cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and granulated sugar for about 2 minutes until light and fluffy.

Add the eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl and beating well after each addition.

Beat in the vanilla extract (the batter may look a little grainy but that’s okay).

Gradually add the flour mixture, alternating with the milk, beating on low speed to combine. Stop beating the mixture.

Add the berries to the batter and fold gently with a spatula until evenly distributed. Do not overmix.

Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin cases.

Sprinkle the demerara sugar evenly on top of the muffins if you so desire.

Bake for about 30 minutes, until lightly golden and a cake tester comes out clean.

Let the muffins cool for about 10 minutes before removing from the cases.

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