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Tuesday, July 22, 2014

The Best Blueberry Muffins

We went blueberry picking last week.  I discovered Frog Eye Blueberry Farm for the first time last summer when I was looking for an All-American activity for our French exchange student who was spending three weeks with us.  When we got home I looked through my recipe book and found The Best Blueberry Muffins recipe in a little Muffins cookbook by Elizabeth Alston.  They really ARE the best blueberry muffins I've ever tasted, so I thought the recipe was worth sharing with you.


First, you must get in your car and drive to Frog Eye Blueberry Farm.  You will come upon a little hamlet called Burkittsville. . . .


Make a right turn at the center of town at P. J. Gilligan's 1860's Dry Goods Store. . . .

Proceed past the charming houses on the right. . . .




. . . .and as you drive out of the village note the quaint farmhouse on the left. . . .

This road will take you through Gathland State Park, noted for its memorial to Civil War Correspondents.  Then you'll turn left onto a two-lane highway for a couple miles until you see the sign for Frog Eye Blueberry Farm.  Turn right here and follow the little lane until you come to this sign. . . .

Follow that lane up to the farm, get your bucket, and head for the blueberry bushes. . . .


Fill two buckets full....
You won't need that much for the recipe, but you'll want to make another batch very soon and, of course, you'll want berries on your cereal every morning.  You can freeze the rest by spreading them out on a cookie sheet.  Once frozen they can be put in a bag and stored in the freezer till you're ready for your next batch of muffins.

Walk back up the hill and take a break under this tree. . . .

Take your buckets up to the tent to have them weighed. . . .
Ours came to 6.5 lbs. and cost $22.75 for pesticide/chemical free berries.

Now you're ready to make the muffins.



The Best Blueberry Muffins
12 Regular Muffins

Bursting with berries, these are the best blueberry muffins of all.  The secret is an extra ½ cup of blueberries, which are mashed and then added to the batter.  Serve warm, with Honey Butter (see below).

 ½ cup (1 stick) butter, at room temperature
 1 cup granulated sugar, or slightly less depending on tartness of
         blueberries
 2 large eggs
 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
 2 teaspoons baking powder
 ¼ teaspoon salt
 2½ cups blueberries (Mash ½ cup with a fork)
 2 cups all-purpose flour
 ½ cup milk
 1 tablespoon sugar mixed with ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

Heat oven to 375° F.  Grease 12 muffin cups, including the area between each cup, or use foil baking cups.

In a medium-size bowl, beat ½ cup butter until creamy. . . .

Beat in 1 cup sugar until pale and fluffy. . . .

Beat in 2 large eggs, one at a time. . . .

Beat in 1 tsp. vanilla. . . .

2 tsp. baking powder. . . .

¼ tsp. salt. . . .

Mix ½ cup mashed berries into batter. . . .

Fold in half the flour (1 cup) with a spatula, then half the milk (¼ cup). . . .

Add remaining 1 cup flour and ¼ cup milk. . . .

Fold in remaining 2 cups blueberries. . . .


Scoop batter into muffin cups.  A large ice cream scooper with the thingy that pushes it out is great for this. . . .

Mix 1 Tblsp. sugar with 1/4 tsp. nutmeg. . . .

Sprinkle a scant 1/4 tsp. on each muffin. . . .

Bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until golden brown.   Done when lightly browned and toothpick test comes out clean. . . .

Let muffins cool at least 30 minutes in the pan before removing.  You see why you need to grease the top of the muffin pan, too. . . .

And if you have a dickens of a time getting them out of the muffin tins because you didn't grease the tin well enough, you can always turn it into a Blueberry Crumble.  These were supposed to be for my guests' breakfast tomorrow.  Oh well.  Now it's going to be their dessert tonight with whipped cream instead. . . .

Here is the Honey Butter recipe for those of you who get the muffins out of the tin successfully. . . .

Honey Butter
About ⅓ cup

 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
 1 tablespoon honey

Beat butter and honey in a small bowl until fluffy and well mixed. . . .  

Store tightly covered.  Keeps indefinitely in the refrigerator.


To print out a copy of this recipe drag this jpeg to your desktop, double click on it, and print it from the Preview menu:

Blueberry Muffin jpeg


13 comments:

  1. Mmmmm...these blueberry muffins seem so YUMMY! :D

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  2. How nice to have chemical free blueberries. I always keep a bag of blueberries in the freezer. I'm sure yours from Frog Eye Blueberry Farm are superior to grocery store frozen berries. What a calm and lovely place to visit. Your music is great for today's visit to the farm. Sorry about your muffins sticking--bummer. How nice and creative to make a wonderful dessert from the muffins. Now I want to make blueberry muffins! ♥

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    Replies
    1. I made blueberry buttermilk pancakes for my guests this morning. The blueberries were so plumb in the pancakes! I used the honey butter on mine and didn't need any syrup!

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  3. We're doing the same thing, just from opposite sides of the continent! What a beautiful drive you have out to your blueberry farm. Thanks for the muffin recipe. I'm going to try making them later today. Of course, mine will have to be with gluten-free flour so they won't be as yummy as yours. Here's a hint for making it easier to freeze them. If they are spray free berries, and you picked them yourself, they don't need to be washed. If they aren't damp from being washed they really don't need to be frozen on a cookie sheet first. I just put 4 cups of berries straight into a medium freezer bag and stick them in the freezer. They rarely stick together, and if they do stick a bit I just gently bang the bag on my countertop and they separate.

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    Replies
    1. That's good to know! I'm going to put a bag in the freezer right now because we have so many berries they're going to spoil otherwise. I told my guests they're going to be sick of blueberries by the time they leave. Tomorrow they're getting a fresh fruit salad (with blueberries) with their breakfast.

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  4. Great blog! What a beautiful area ~ bee~autiful ~ I love blueberries! I've never dragged a recipe likethat before, to my desktop ~ what a great idea! Love that you were flexible {and not afraid when they stuck!} to turn them into crumble! I did similar when a sticky lemon cake sank ~ I just filled it with whipped cream and syrupy summer berries and it was so good. Shhh! that's just between us, right? Waving from Across The Pond in Wales!

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    1. And the thing was, my guests arrived earlier than expected so I hadn't planned a dessert for that evening. When they called to say they'd be here within the hour, that's when I decided to quit trying to get them out of the muffin tin and just dump it all into a bowl for dessert with blueberry syrup and ice cream.

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  5. Cathy, I just returned from a visit with my sister and brother-in-law who were harvesting blueberries, and didn't bring a single one home with me! Your recipe looks yummy, and you've taught me a trick I didn't know about dragging an image to desktop to print out - thanks! As usual, your neck of the woods is simply lovely and makes for enjoyable armchair visits.

    Sharon in Alabama

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    Replies
    1. Well, Sharon, you'll just have to find a place nearby to go blueberry picking yourself! We each did a bucket in about 45 minutes, less if you don't take time to eat some while picking! We were told to taste the berry first because some bushes were sweeter than others.

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  6. Cathy I really enjoyed this post. Starting with the ride to the farm. How delightful and such a pretty area to pass through. You are making me yearn for our blueberry pancakes. I love what you did with your mishap--or meant to be actually! As you needed that for your guests. Hope you are having a nice time with them.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Dotsie. My guests just left. I still have lots of blueberries left as well as Blueberry Crumble and blueberry pancakes. I'll be eating blueberries for awhile.

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  7. Wow I enjoyed so much the trip to collect blueberries and the music too! Your muffins look delicious I will try your recipe next weekend. (already have a cake for this weekend!) Sarah x

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    Replies
    1. Make sure you grease the tins WELL, or use the foil cups!

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