One sunny Saturday morning at the farm, I went off script—the breakfast script, that is. In addition to the usual morning fare, I spontaneously baked a batch of blueberry muffins. 

Some of the recipes used lard in the batter, others oil. But the one I settled on, Easy Blueberry Muffins, went with melted butter. The recipe called for simple ingredients; promised an easy, one-bowl cleanup; and sixteen tender, moist muffins. It delivered on all fronts, including taste. 

In my haste to get these ready for my breakfast guests, I ignored two old wives’ tales about muffin baking. First, dust the berries lightly with flour to minimize the fruit “bleeding” into the batter. (Mine did a bit, but not too much.)

Then, to avoid having the berries sink to the bottom, drop a small bit of plain batter into each muffin cup before adding the fruit mixture. This will make a cushion for the batter-berry mixture to rest upon and prevent the fruit from gathering at the bottom of the tin. I neglected to do either of these and the muffins turned out just fine. 

Playing with the Recipe

I used fresh blueberries, which I prefer. If using frozen, it’s best to rinse the fruit well and pat dry. This will help prevent muffins from taking on a blue-green hue.

For years a similar recipe was served at Jordan-Marsh Department Store tea room in Boston. Their version had a sweeter batter, that included some mashed blueberries, that gave the muffins a bluish tint. This recipe I used scales back the sugar and keeps all the berries whole—which I prefer. I added my own touch with a bit of lemon zest.

Easy Blueberry Muffins

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup (1 stick butter)
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 cups blueberries, fresh preferred
• 1/4 cup sugar, for topping
• Lemon zest (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly grease a standard 12-cup muffin tin; or use paper liners, and grease the papers.
2. In a medium-sized bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until well combined.
3. Add the eggs one at a time, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl and beating well after each addition.
4. Beat in the baking powder, salt, and vanilla.
5. Add the flour alternately with the milk, beating gently just to combine. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl.
6. Add the whole berries and lemon zest (if using) to the batter, stirring just to combine and distribute.
7. Fill the muffin cups nearly to the top with batter.
8. Sprinkle about 1 teaspoon granulated sugar atop each muffin, if desired. (It was what Jordan’s did.) 
9. Bake the muffins for about 30 minutes, until they’re light golden brown on top, and a toothpick inserted into the middle of one of the center muffins comes out clean.
10. Remove the muffins from the oven, loosen their edges from the pan, and after about 5 minutes transfer them to a rack to cool.