Lemon and Blueberry muffins
A simple muffin that is delicious, freshly baked and still warm from the oven. Loaded with juicy blueberries and a zesty lemon twist, this muffin stays moist for a couple of days so it is a favourite in my household.
Ingredients
(Makes 12 standard muffins)
200g caster sugar
Zest of 1 lemon
320g plain flour
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
55g melted, cooled butter
55g vegetable oil
160g whole fat milk
150g plain or Greek yoghurt
2 large eggs (room temperature)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
180g fresh blueberries
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 190 degrees Celsius.
2. Line 2 x 12 hole standard muffin tins with 12 muffin paper cases in total. Place 6 in one tin with alternate empty muffin holes and then repeat with the other tin.
3. First, in a large bowl, rub the lemon zest into the sugar with your finger tips to release the natural oils in the zest.
4. Then add the flour, bicarbonate of soda, salt and baking powder to the bowl and whisk with a balloon whisk until well mixed.
5. In a separate bowl, whisk together the melted butter, vegetable oil, yoghurt, milk, 2 eggs and vanilla. Whisk until smooth.
6. Carefully, add the wet mixture into the flour mixture and with a spatula or wooden spoon, very gently fold until no dry flour is obvious. Do not over mix and lumps and clumps are fine.
7. Place one tablespoon of the plain mixture in each muffin case.
8. Very carefully fold in most of the blueberries into the muffin mix in the bowl but retain some for decoration ( 36) .
9. Now finish filling each muffin case to just below the top with the blueberry muffin mix and place 3 blueberries into the top of each muffin.
10. Bake for 20 minutes until they are well risen, golden brown at the edges and a toothpick comes out clean.
11. Leave to cool for 5 minutes before cooling completely on a cooling rack.
Notes
Muffins are always best eaten on the day. If you are going to eat them over a couple of days, you can reheat for 10-20 seconds in the microwave to rehydrate. It really does make all the difference!
This recipe will make 12 standard muffins. If using tulip muffin cases, you can overfill for more height and make less. If making jumbo muffins you will need to extend the cooking time slightly.
I use fresh blueberries rather than frozen for this recipe.
You need to use whole milk, not semi or skimmed milk in this recipe. Do not swap the butter for margarine/ baking spread.
All dairy products can be swapped to dairy- free alternatives successfully. Soya milk, soya plain or Greek yoghurt and plant based block butter as direct swaps.
Use 2 baking tins, with empty alternate muffin holes spaces, to ensure an even rise and this trick really does help with the bake.