Blueberry Muffins

My three favorite muffins are Spiced Bran, Butter-Dipped Pear, and Blueberry. But, blueberry, ahh blueberry holds a special place in my heart. I remember picking blueberries on a U-Pick farm where we lived in Northwest WA when I was very young. My mother is a blueberry fiend and we'd truck out there most seasons to pick them to freeze. Mom would freeze them and then eat them like candy throughout the year. She still does. As with most things about my mother I view them fondly, and whenever I eat blueberries I think of her.

In a pinch I'll even eat one of those monstrous, contains-your-entire-daily-caloric-intake blueberry muffins from Costco. That's how much I love blueberry muffins. Fresh from the oven (or microwaved in the Costco muffin's case) and slathered with creamy, salted butter. That spells heaven in a cupcake liner for me. The play of salty on sweet gets me every time.

I've been waiting for the price of blueberries at the farmer's market to drop, but they're holding pretty strong. Because I can't bring myself to pay $7 per pint, I eventually capitulated to the frozen berry aisle at the grocery store. My main reason for preferring fresh berries is purely aesthetic, I don't like it when my batter turns all bluey-green from the extra juice of the frozen berries.

But, frozen or fresh no one can deny the health benefits of blueberries. They're a great source of potassium, manganese and are widely viewed as a good source of those awesome little things called antioxidants. In a recipe that requires only 1/2 cup of oil and 2 eggs for 12 big muffins I say this rates pretty well on the muffin-health scale. Not that they're good for you, you just won't have a heart attack immediately after eating one like with those damned Costco muffins.




Blueberry Muffins

Makes 12 muffins

11 oz white whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of salt
4 oz sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 large whole egg
1 large egg yolk
6 oz plain yogurt
2 oz orange juice
8 oz blueberries

1. In a medium mixing bowl mix all dry ingredients. In a separate mixing bowl combine all wet ingredients. Add the wet mixture to the dry, stirring just enough to combine. Do not over mix until smooth, it's supposed to be clumpy.

2. Add blueberries, gently stir in until pretty evenly distributed, but no more than absolutely necessary.

3. Separate into a twelve hole muffin pan, lined with cupcake liners or greased with butter. Bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.