Blueberry Muffins

Ingredients

• Plain flour: the backbone of the muffin. It creates that tender crumb without being too heavy
• Caster sugar: fine enough to dissolve quickly and give you an even texture
• Blueberries: tart, sweet little pockets that make every bite interesting. Either fresh of frozen both work beautifully
• Eggs, milk and oil: the wet ingredients that keep these muffins soft and moist without any faffing about.
• Vanilla extract: a quiet but essential note that lets the blueberries shine without overpowering them

Making the Blueberry Muffins

Right, let's get started. This is a very straightforward and moves quickly, so have everything to hand before we begin. First, preheat your oven to 180°C (350°F) fan or 200°C (400°F) conventional. While it's warming up, grease your 12-hole muffin tin really well with butter, making sure you get into the corners and up the sides. If you prefer using paper cases, that's fine too. Just pop them in now! Either way, you want your tins ready so the batter goes straight in once it's mixed.

Grab a large bowl and whisk together your plain flour, caster sugar, baking powder, and a small pinch of salt. Just combine the dry ingredients evenly. In a separate smaller bowl or jug, this together the wet ingredients: eggs, whole milk, vegetable oil and vanilla extract until well combined and smoooooooth.

Okay, onto the magic. Pour the wet mixture into the dry ingredients and stir gently until just combines. Don't overcomplicate, I mean over mix this. You'll see some lumps but that's exactly what you want. That means you haven't overworked the batter and developed gluten. That ends up with dense, tough muffins that don't rise properly. Now, gently fold in your blueberries with a spatula being careful not to crush them too much. A few broken ones are fine but you want most of them whole so you get those lovely bursts of flavour and tartness.

Divide the batter evenly between the muffin holes. I use an ice cream scoop or a spoon to keep them roughly equal which helps them cook more evenly. The batter should come about three-quarters of the way up each hole. Now into the oven they go for 18 to 20 minutes. You know they're ready when the tops are golden and a wooden skewer inserted one comes out clean (apart from maybe a bit of blueberry which is dine). If the skewer comes out with batter clinging to it, they need a couple more minutes.

Serving

The absolute best way to serve these muffins is to serve them warm from the rack with a hot cup of tea or coffee. Or you can pack them into lunchboxes the next morning. They're great with a dollop or vanilla ice cream or something a bit lighter. They work equally well as a quick breakfast, a packed lunch, or an afternoon treat. They're definitely humble enough for any time of the day.

Storage

These keep well in an airtight container at room temperature for up to three days. And of course they taste as good the next day. The crumb continues to set and become slightly more tender as they sit. You can also freeze them for up to two months. To eat them, simply leave them at room temperature for about an hour or warm them gently in a low oven for 10 minutes or so. If you're taking them out for lunch, pop a frozen one in your lunchbox in the morning and it'll have thawed by midday.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use fresh blueberries instead of frozen?

Absolutely. Fresh blueberries work wonderfully. Frozen blueberries are actually easier for baking because they hold their shape better and don't bleed that much into the batter.

What if I don't have caster sugar?

Granulated sugar works fine, though it's slightly coarser so the texture might be very slightly grittier. You could also pulse granulated sugar in a food processor for a minute to make it finer if you're fussy about it.

Can I make these blueberry muffins dairy-free or vegan?

You can use plant-based milk (oat or soy work well) instead of whole milk easily. For vegan, swap the eggs for a flax egg (1 tbsp ground flaxseed mixed with 3 tbsp water, left to sit for 5 minutes) and use plant-based milk. The results are slightly less fluffy, but still delicious.

My muffins are dense and heavy. What went wrong?

You likely overmixed the batter. Stir just until the dry ingredients are moistened — lumpy is good! Overmixing develops gluten and creates dense muffins. Another possibility is that your oven runs cool; try raising the temperature by 10°C (50°F) and baking for a few minutes less.

Can I prep the muffin batter ahead of time?

You can combine the dry ingredients the night before in an airtight container. Keep the wet ingredients separate, and mix everything together just before baking. Don't fold in the blueberries until right before they go in the oven, so they don't stain the batter.