Blythes Blueberry Muffins

Good morning to you all! Or as I like to say, guten trog! I think it's German, but now that I think it through, it might be "guten morgan" which I say all the time. Either way, you know what I mean. The sun is shining and it has snowed one and a half times in the past 3-4 weeks. Not good for skiing but it's great weather for trips to friends houses and grocery shopping. There is nothing worse than pushing a full cart through the snow banks and ice, in a blizzard, through the parking lot and then unloading the bags. People fall all the time doing this. Its kind of funny, except when it's you. Oh, and I bit it big time about 2 years ago. So embarrassing.

Along with the favorable weather, blueberries were on sale at the store as if it were full-on spring. I'm not getting my hopes up that the weather stays like this. I have lived here long enough to know that inevitably it will dump buckets, and we will have storm after storm move in with a few sunny days in between, skiers will rejoice, and I will fall on my butt in parking lots. It is so in my future. But for right now, I think I'll eat blueberry muffins, pretend it's warm (it's not) and enjoy the sun...and The Bachelor.

These little darlings are studded with blueberries. I think the ratio of blueberries to batter has to be 50/50 which makes these, in my opinion, nothing short of awesome. The recipe is easy, can be mixed by hand, and the muffins once baked, are tender and fluffy and only slightly sweet. This is not a sugary muffin, which is a plus in my book is a plus because it lets the taste of the blueberries shine (you can probably add up to 1/4 cup of additional sugar to this recipe if you like your muffins on the sweeter side.) By the way, in case you were thinking of tweaking this recipe to make it healthier, you know, because of the new year and the resolutions and all, think again. I made them the first time using 1/2 whole wheat flour and almond milk and while they were still good, they were also heavy and not as tender. I think you would have better results using coconut milk, for the higher fat content and only subbing out about 1/2 cup total of whole wheat flour.

I should mention these are named after Gwyneth Paltrow's mom, Blythe Danner, who I love. She's the mom in "Meet The Parents" and "Meet The Fockers" movies, among many other roles. I love her even more now that I know she makes a mean muffin.

Blythe's Blueberry Muffins

adapted from My Fathers Daughter, by Gwyneth Paltrow

Makes 12

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

2 large eggs

1/2 cup milk

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

3/4 cup plus 1 teaspoon granulated sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 1/2 cups fresh blueberries (frozen berries will bleed purple dye through your batter)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Line a 12-cup muffin tin with papers. Whisk the butter, eggs, and milk together in a bowl. In another bowl, whisk together the flour, the 3/4 cup of sugar, baking powder, and salt. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and fold in the blueberries. Divide among the muffin cups and sprinkle the muffins with the remaining teaspoon of sugar. bake until a toothpick tests clean and the muffins are golden brown, 25-30 minutes. Best to eat these warm.