Foodie Friday - Do you know the Muffin Man?

A couple of weeks ago we went out to a little family get together that we call "The Cousins' Birthday Party." Basically it's a chance for us as a family to celebrate all the kids' birthdays (all eight of them) at once.

This year we were doing a fish fry and swim party. Mmmm... it doesn't get a whole lot better than that, let me just tell you.

So we got there and it was still going to be a little while before lunch was ready. Nathan got his eye fixed on some muffins that my sister had made that morning and just had to have him one.

He. Devoured. It.

And another one.

I think we had to cut him off.

I had one, too. They were YUM!

They had this wonderfully light texture and they were sweet... but not overly so. Just the right amount of sweet.

So later on that following week, I got a hankerin' for muffins again. Only I decided that I'd change it up a bit. I was going to use some blackberries that I had and make blackberry muffins.

I found a recipe that was unlike anything I had tried before and decided to give it a shot.

In short... FAIL.

The muffins themselves turned out I think exactly how they should have. But it just didn't work for us.

1. The recipe incorporated cornmeal which I originally thought might be interesting. Nope. Not for me.

2. Blackberries just don't work in muffins. Too many seeds.

So not only did I have the strange sensation of gritty cornmeal in my muffins, I had seeds that I was forever picking out of my molars. It didn't make for attractive muffin eating, I'll say that for sure.

My mind kept going back to those fluffy muffins my sister had made and I knew what I had to do.

I called her on her birthday, forgot to wish her a happy birthday and asked her for her recipe... yeah, my priorities are spot on.

She informed me that the recipe came from someone in her husband's family and she emailed it to me.

As you'll see, it's a different method than you might be accustomed to for muffins. It still incorporates the "muffin method" of mixing wet ingredients into dry, but you add the butter in a different way.

I'll stop there and you can see the recipe for yourself (with my changes because I can't leave anything alone) here and on the recipe blog for step by step photos.

Makes 12 muffins

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 stick butter, cool room temperature
1 cup buttermilk cool room temperature*
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups blueberries**

* Milk may be substituted for buttermilk.
** Should be fresh blueberries that have been frozen with no sugar added.

You will also need:
Large bowl
Spatula/spoonula
Muffin pan
Baking liners (optional)
1 extra teaspoon (or so) of flour

Method:
Preheat oven to 425 F. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Work room temperature butter into dry ingredients using fingers until it makes various sized “pebbles”. Gently toss frozen blueberries with a teaspoon or so of flour to coat. Form a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and add wet ingredients. Gently begin folding together and gently fold in blueberries at the same time. Do not over-mix as the dough should remain rather lumpy. Spoon into 12 muffin cups and bake at 425 F for 20-25 minutes.



I made them this week and we have now renamed my son The Muffin Man. I think he ate one for breakfast and as a snack. He would have had one for dinner if we would have allowed it.

So tell me, have you tried something new only to taste it and think, "Nope, not for me"? Or do you have a favorite blueberry muffin recipe? I'd love to hear about anything muffin today.

In this post: Blueberry Muffins