Notice all the blueberries in the market? Boxes and boxes of them! The bins are overflowing.
That’s probably because more blueberries are being grown these days, according to this article in the Fruit Growers News. And that’s because blueberries are more popular than ever, probably because of their reputation as a healthy food.
That’s good. That blueberries are healthy. Because they are so good, especially when they’re slightly tart. Mmmm, I remember many a summer night when my Mom served me blueberries and sour cream (sprinkled with sugar) for dinner. Haven’t had that in years. These days it’s more like blueberries and plain, non-fat Greek style yogurt. No fat. And surely no sugar.
But during winter it’s more likely that I’ll use blueberries in pancakes. Or even better, muffins, which I can freeze and then have one whenever I want.
Lemon-Blueberry Muffins
1/2 cup butter
2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon grated lemon peel
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup whole or 2% milk
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup blueberries
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease 10-12 muffin tin cups. Melt the butter and set aside to cool. Mix the flour, sugar, lemon peel, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl. Stir to combine ingredients thoroughly. In a second bowl mix the milk, egg, egg yolk and melted butter and stir to combine ingredients throughly. Stir in the lemon juice and vanilla extract. Pour the liquid mixture into the flour mixture and mix just to combine ingredients (it will be very thick). Fold in the blueberries. Spoon into the muffin tins, about 2/3 the way up. Bake for 20-23 minutes or until browned and a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean.
Makes 10-12