Perfect Blueberry Muffins

I found this recipe in a Smitten Kitchen cookbook, but it’s also on the blog. This is Deb Perelman’s perfect blueberry muffins, and she has tested a whole lot of variations to get there! The top is crunchy thanks to the turbinado sugar, and the blueberries don’t sink to the bottom (and there are LOTS of delicious blueberries). We absolutely loved them over here; the only downside is that the recipe makes 9 muffins, so they are gone pretty quickly. I’d consider making a double batch and freezing some.

5 Tbsp. lactose-free butter or margarine
½ cup sugar
finely grated zest from ½ lemon
¾ cup lactose-free plain yogurt or sour cream
1 large egg
1 ½ tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. fine sea or table salt
1 ½ cups (195 g) all-purpose flour (I used white whole wheat)
1 ¼ to 1 ½ cups (215 to 255 g) blueberries, fresh or frozen
3 Tbsp. turbinado sugar

Heat oven to 375 °F. Line a muffin tin with 9 paper liners or spray each cup with a nonstick spray.

Melt butter in the bottom of a large bowl and whisk in sugar, zest, yogurt, and egg until smooth. Whisk in baking powder, baking soda and salt until fully combined, then lightly fold in flour and berries. (I confess that I decided to start by whisking together the dry ingredients, then stirred them into the wet and folded in the blueberries) Batter will be very thick, like a cookie dough. Divide between prepared muffin cups and sprinkle each with 1 teaspoon turbinado sugar (this seems like a lot, but trust me).

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until tops are golden and a tester inserted into the center of muffins comes out clean (you know, except for blueberry goo). Let cool in pan for 10 minutes then the rest of the way on a rack.