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December 30, 2009

Homemade Blueberry Muffins: Yummm

While I've always felt pretty brave about soups and sauces -- also, big old hunks of meat -- baking provokes my anxiety. Baking involves actual chemistry, and once it's done you can't hide behind a last round of seasoning. If it sucks, you either choke it down or chuck it out, neither an appealing option.

I got brave when I was looking at a display of canned biscuits in the grocery store. I had to give myself a stern talking-to in order to work up the nerve, but I've learned how to make those, some cakes, and now...

My Recipe Box: To Die for Blueberry Muffins
The best part about these is the crumb topping. Crunchy, sweet, and all-around yummy.

QUESTIONS:
  1. Any brilliant ideas for filling the muffin cups evenly? :)
  2. Also, I have no idea why tonight's pictures have this weird sepia thing going on. I took them with my Blackberry, which is convenient because I also use it to store recipes. I feel like it has to do with the "white balance" options. Anybody know what those do? I'm clueless...
TIPS:
  1. If you have problems with your blueberries sinking to the bottom, try this. Rinse them right before you start your prep, and leave them to drain in a colander. Then, just before the "fold in the blueberries" step, toss them in enough flour to give a good coating. This will thicken the batter a touch and keep them suspended.
  2. Let the muffins cool for 5-10 minutes in the pan, then run a knife around the edges to release them.
  3. That said, unless you're anti-waste or just a cheapskate like me, USE MUFFIN LINERS! Otherwise you may wind up with this:

Poor muffin, half of you got left behind in the pan. Then all of you got eaten.

3 comments:

  1. YUM! Good flour tip w/ the blueberries. I always use Crisco to grease my muffin pan (mmmmmm, lard), and I fill them with an ice cream scoop, an invaluable tip from Betty Crocker :)

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  2. Looks sooo good. I am exactly the opposite... everything about cooking freaks me out but baking... I love! I think it's because I do really well with rules and guidelines but pinches here and there are scary!! :)

    I might have to try these!! YUM

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  3. @Sarah: Ice cream scoop, that's brilliant!

    @Courtney: have we found the perfect metaphor for our complementary personalities? :)

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