Freezer-Case Blueberry Muffins

By pknaub

Fresh blueberries—at an affordable price—are a rare commodity, appearing only in the depths of summer. Frozen blueberries are a great choice the rest of the year; they translate very well to a variety of treats, particularly pie, pancakes, and muffins. Step-by-step photos illustrating how to make these muffins are available at Bakers’ Banter, our King Arthur blog.

Ingredients

• 2 cups (8 ounces) frozen blueberries
• 1/2 cup (4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 3/4 cup (5 1/4 ounces) granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
• 1/2 cup (4 ounces) sour cream or plain yogurt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 1/4 cups (9 1/2 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• Sparkling sugar for garnish (optional)

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line a muffin tin with papers, and grease the papers.
First, assess your frozen blueberries. If they’re the big fat ones you usually find in the freezer case at the supermarket, go ahead and use them as is; no need to thaw. If they’re tiny wild ones, ones you may have picked yourself, they may be fragile enough that they’ll bleed a lot of color into your muffins. If you don’t mind blueberry muffins with streaks of blue from the frozen berries, go ahead and use them right from the freezer. If you want less blue streaking in your muffins, rinse the berries gently, till the water lightens in color. Drain them thoroughly, and gently drain/blot them on paper towels. Don’t squash them; you won’t be able to really dry them off, but just blot up any excess liquid.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar together until well combined. Beat in the eggs; then the vanilla and almond extracts, sour cream or yogurt, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Add the flour, mixing till everything is evenly moistened. Gently stir in the blueberries with a spatula, mixing just until they’re mostly incorporated. Don’t worry about distributing them evenly throughout the batter.

Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin cups; a muffin scoop or large ice cream scoop works well here. Sprinkle the tops with sparkling sugar, if desired.

Bake the muffins for 25 minutes. Gently lay a piece of foil across the top of the pan, and bake for an additional 5 to 10 minutes (the longer amount of time for larger frozen berries), until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove them from the oven, cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then remove the muffins from the pan to finish cooling on a rack.
Yield: 12 large muffins.