Warm muffins with pops of hot juicy blueberries and little crunches of coarse sugar alongside a mug of hot chocolate is a breakfast I'll get out of bed for! In fact, this recipe is a favorite of my daughter who does not have to eat gluten free. She requests them often, and with a few little tricks, these muffins are better than any other. It is a recipe adapted from the America's Test Kitchen. I love their recipes because they explain the science behind the ingredients and methods, and it just makes sense to me! I hope you'll enjoy these as much as we do!
Blueberry Muffins
Makes 12 muffins
2 1/4 cups or 11 oz. gluten-free flour (I use Bob's Red Mill 1:1 flour or the ATK flour blend)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 xanthan gum (*if your GF flour doesn't include it)
3/4 cup sugar
8 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
1/2 cup sour cream
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups blueberries
2 tablespoons coarse sugar
Whisk the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and xanthan gum together in a large bowl. In a separate mixing bowl, combine the sugar, melted butter, sour cream, eggs, and vanilla together. Add flour mixture, a third at a time, and beat until no lumps remain. Gently fold in the blueberries until evenly distributed (the batter will be thick and stiff). Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the batter rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.
While batter is resting, preheat the oven to 375° F. Spray or line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners. Using a large cookie scoop, divide batter evenly into muffin pan. Using a wet finger, smooth the tops. Sprinkle with coarse sugar. Bake 16-20 minutes until tops are golden and toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let the muffins cool in the pan on wire rack for 10 minutes, then remove from pan and continue cooling. The muffins are best served warm! To reheat the next day, warm them in a 300° F oven for 10 minutes or microwave for 20-30 seconds.
Step-by-step tutorial:
One of the best tips with this recipe is to measure the flour by weight. If you don't have a kitchen scale, I recommend getting one. It is more accurate, especially with flour because we all measure it into cups differently.
Whisk the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and xanthan gum together in a large bowl. For this batch I used ATK flour blend, but have also used 1:1 flours with good results. In a separate mixing bowl, combine the sugar, melted butter, sour cream, eggs, and vanilla together. Add the flour mixture, a third at a time, and beat until no lumps remain. Gently fold in the blueberries until evenly distributed (the batter will be thick and stiff). Now for the next important tip that sets this recipe apart from others: Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the batter rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.
While the batter is resting, preheat the oven to 375° F. Spray or line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners. I like to use cupcake liners to make clean up easier! Using an ice cream scoop or large cookie scoop, divide the batter evenly into the muffin pan. Wet a finger and smooth the tops of the muffins. I like to add a few more blueberries on the top of each. Sprinkle with the coarse sugar.
Bake for 16-20 minutes until the tops are golden and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let the muffins cool in the pan on wire rack for 10 minutes,
Remove the muffins to a wire rack to continue cooling. I usually eat one about now and burn myself on the hot blueberries! But they smell so wonderful and are hard to resist.
When my kiddos smell these baking, they are so excited. Just be sure to mix them an hour before you want to eat them, so the batter has time to rest. Not too much work, just some time and patience.
When you bite into the warm muffin and get that juicy POP from a blueberry, you remember just how magical a good blueberry muffin can be. Happy baking!
Recipe Source: America's Test Kitchen The How Can it be Gluten Free Cookbook