Cents-Able Breakfasts - Blueberry Muffins

We really like muffins - they are a tasty, portable way to start the day.  They make a great after-school snack as well.  Muffins are not expensive to make, especially if ingredients are purchased on sale or in bulk...or even grown at home!  Here is one of our favorites.  You can click for the printable version of this recipe at the bottom of this posting.

Blueberry Muffins
Makes 12 Muffins

Blueberries are generally expensive, and they do not grow well here.  I noticed this past summer that our Dollar Tree sells 10 oz. bags of USA-sourced frozen blueberries.  We tried them, liked them a lot, and now I keep some in the freezer for these muffins and a few other tasty treats.  One 10 oz. bag is enough for two batches of this muffin recipe, plus a few extra for snacking.  The photos in this post are of a batch I made with some whole wheat flour and coconut sugar, so they are darker in color.  See the "variations" at the bottom of this post for details.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2/3 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/3 cup vegetable oil (if you use coconut oil, melt it before proceeding with recipe)

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/3-1/2 cup milk

1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries (we use frozen)

Instructions:

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F/205 degrees C.  Line 12 standard-size muffin cups with paper liners or grease muffin cups thoroughly (we use paper liners).

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl, whisk together until items are evenly mixed.  

Add vegetable oil to a measuring cup that holds 1 cup.  

Add egg and vanilla to oil...

...then add milk to the 1 cup measure line.  

Add wet mixture to the bowl of dry ingredients and stir to combine - do not over-mix.  Batter will be quite thick.  (Note:  The batter should be a thick batter, not a dough.  If it is too thick, stir in milk, a tablespoon at a time.)  

Gently fold blueberries into the batter.  

Use an ice cream scoop to divide the batter evently between the muffin cups.  

If you used fresh blueberries, these muffins will be baked in approximately 15 mintues.  If you used frozen blueberries, they will take approximately 20 minutes.  They should be lightly browned on top, and a toothpick inserted near the center of one of the muffins should come out clean.  

If you used paper liners, remove muffins from pan and cool on a rack.  If you greased the muffin cups, let the muffins cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes before removing.  Enjoy!

Variations:

If you would like a blueberry-lemon muffin, use lemon extract (not lemon juice) in place of the vanilla extract, and add a teaspoon of finely grated lemon zest, if you have it.  

You can sprinkle the tops of the muffins (before baking) with a bit of sugar to make a crunchy topping.  This is great for muffins you plan to serve right away, but the sugar tends to draw moisture from the muffins (and this makes the sugar topping wet, instead of crunchy) if you store them.

Often, I substitute 1/2 cup all purpose flour and 1 cup, slightly rounded, of whole wheat pastry flour for the 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour.  I have also used coconut sugar in place of the granulated sugar.  The muffins are darker in color, but more filling, and still quite good!

You can substitute another similarly-sized, moist berry for the blueberries, such as strawberries or raspberries that have been chopped to a smaller size.

Blueberry Muffins Recipe Printable