Lemon Blueberry Muffins

I. Love. Lemon. Lemon is my chocolate. Strangely enough, I am not a fan of chocolate! Not sure why, just lost my taste for it. So it is only fitting that my first recipe be something lemony! I started with a Cooks Illustrated Blueberry Muffin recipe and tweaked it till it became mine, the best Blueberry Muffins in the world!

My first food picture ever... :)

This recipe is a little labor intensive, but TRUST ME, every step is worth it! Most of the time I simplify Cooks Illustrated recipes, they tend to be fussy for no reason. But this one is spot on. Besides, I love hand mixing things. I love "folding" ingredients together. It makes me feel like I could be a mom from 100 years ago, baking the best baked goods in the county.

Lemon Blueberry Muffins
Printable Recipe

Lemon-Sugar Topping:
zest from 2 lemons
1/3 cup sugar (2 1/3 ounces)

2 cups fresh (or frozen!) blueberries (about 10 ounces)
1 & 1/8 cups sugar plus 1 teaspoon
2 & 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 & 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon table salt
2 large eggs
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, melted and cooled slightly
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk
1 & 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

1. 
   

   1. Mix zest and sugar with your fingers, rubbing the zest into the sugar, set aside.
   2. Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees. Spray standard muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray. Bring 1 cup blueberries, 1 teaspoon lemon juice, and 1 teaspoon sugar to simmer in small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, mashing berries with spoon several times and stirring frequently, until berries have broken down and mixture is thickened and reduced to ¼ cup, about 6 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
   3. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in large bowl. Whisk 1 & 1/8 cups sugar and eggs together in medium bowl until thick and homogeneous, about 45 seconds. Slowly whisk in butter and oil until combined. Whisk in buttermilk, 1 teaspoon lemon juice and vanilla until combined. Using rubber spatula, fold egg mixture and remaining cup blueberries into flour mixture until just moistened. (Batter will be very lumpy with few spots of dry flour; do not overmix.)
   4. Fill each muffin cup almost, but not quite full. Spoon teaspoon of cooked berry mixture into center of each mound of batter. Using chopstick or skewer, gently swirl berry filling into batter using figure-eight motion. Sprinkle lemon sugar evenly over muffins. (it looks like a lot of sugar, trust me, use it all!)
   5. Bake until muffin tops are golden and just firm, 17 to 19 minutes, rotating muffin tin from front to back halfway through baking time. Cool muffins in muffin tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack and cool 5 minutes before serving.
      

      
      Don't they look amazing? 
      
      Rich and moist, lightly lemony, and that lemon sugar bakes to a crisp crackly crust on top. 
      
      They don't need butter, or any topping for that matter, but who cares, go for it! :)
      
      Still my favorite muffins ever.