Small Batch Blueberry Muffins
It has been a long several months since I’ve baked myself a Sunday morning breakfast. It’s one of my favorite things to do so I am so glad to be able to do it again! Last week I saw a yummy looking small-batch muffin recipe pop up on Instagram that looked like the perfect thing to try in the new kitchen. The original recipe is for blueberry muffins. I didn’t have fresh blueberries, and while the author of the recipe doesn’t recommend substituting, I did anyways with great success! I looked through the pantry and settled on dried cherries with white chocolate chunks and thought it was delicious. I am excited for blueberry season though. I’m going to find the best blueberries I can and make this recipe again with them. Can’t wait!
The original blog post on Hummingbird high has TONS of tips, tricks and recommendations regarding these muffins. If you want to get into the nitty gritty then follow the link to her blog. I’m not going to recap it here.
These muffins baked up so beautifully! I love a huge, bakery style muffin, and this is it. I like the small batch aspect as that works better for my life. Hummingbird high also has this recipe in a non-small batch form if interested. In the full batch version she does call for a small amount of almond flour (1/2 cup total, with 2 cups all purpose flour). She doesn’t call for that in this small-batch recipe, but states that you can replace 1/4 cup of the all purpose flour with almond flour which would be a nice alternative. I may do this the next time I make these muffins.
I did use a different type of muffin tin that I’ve had for quite a while. It makes slightly larger muffins than usual, and it has a special well for a perfect muffin top. It worked great, although the muffin tops did stick a bit as the muffins cooled. I had to be very, very careful getting them out of the pan (and did have on casualty… see the photo). So make sure to oil/grease/butter your pans super well. And although the recipe developer specifically states that you shouldn’t line the muffin tins with liners, I probably will next time just so I don’t have to worry about sticking as much. The sugar you sprinkle on top of the batter makes everything even stickier than normal. You will still need to worry about the muffin tops sticking to the top of the pan however, so make sure to great the top of the muffin tins as well.
The author recommends making 4 muffins with this recipe, but I wanted HUGE, bakery style muffins so I only made 3 and they turned out great. I had to bake them just a few extra minutes. So although I haven’t tried them all, you can likely make 3, or 4, or even 6 (I actually saw someone make 6 on the Instagram post which initially inspired me) without any problem. Just adjust the baking time accordingly.
The final muffins are super tender and buttery. The interior is divine. The edges are all crispy and sugary thanks to the sprinkling of sugar on top. It is an amazing combination of contrasts and is absolutely delicious! I thought these were some of the best muffins I have ever made and and happy to have them in my repertoire for the future.
Highly recommended!
Small Batch Blueberry Muffins
From Hummingbird High
Ingredients
1 ¼ cups (5.65 ounces or 160 grams) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ cup (2 ounces or 57 grams) whole milk, at room temperature
¼ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
½ cup (3.5 ounces or 99 grams) granulated sugar
4 Tablespoons (2 ounces or 57 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 ¼ cups (6.5 ounces or 184 grams) fresh blueberries, at room temperature
4 teaspoons granulated white sugar, for topping
Directions
Make the muffin batter: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. In a small liquid measuring cup, whisk together the milk and the vanilla.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the sugar and butter. Beat on medium-high until light, fluffy, and doubled in volume, 2 to 3 minutes, using a rubber spatula to scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl as necessary. Reduce the mixer to low and add the egg.
With the mixer still on low, add the the dry ingredients in three equal parts, alternating with the wet ingredients in two parts. Beat until just combined, then scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl once more, then beat on low for an additional 30 seconds. Take half of the blueberries and crush them with your hands so they are juicy; add to the batter and increase the mixer speed to high for 5 to 10 seconds to encourage the berries to release their juices even more. Immediately reduce the mixer to low and add the rest of the berries, mixing until incorporated evenly throughout the batter, another 30 seconds.
Rest the muffin batter: Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the batter rest at room temperature for 1 hour.
Prep your oven and pans: While the batter rests, position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 400°F using the convect setting (if possible). Prepare a muffin tin by spraying the inside and border of every other cavity in the muffin tin, a total of 4 cavities, generously with cooking spray. If you’re using a standard muffin tin, position the pan so that its short side faces you and prep the center cavity of the top row, the outer two cavities of the second row, and the center cavity of the third row. [note, I wanted even BIGGER muffins, so I actually only prepped 3 cavities for a total of 3 muffins]
Use a 1-tablespoon or 3-tablespoon cookie dough scoop to fill each sprayed cavity with 6 tablespoons of the batter. Sprinkle the top of each cavity, aiming for the batter and avoiding the pan, with 1 teaspoon of granulated sugar each. Pour warm water into the outer cavities of the muffin tin’s final row, filling them at least ⅔ of the way up.
Bake the muffins. Bake for 22 to 24 minutes [since I made 3 muffins, instead of the 4 called for in the recipe, I had to bake mine a little longer. I can’t remember exactly how long, but somewhere in the 26-28 minute range. So if you make bigger muffins like I did, start checking around the 22-24 minute mark, and keep adding an additional 1-2 minutes at a time until they are done], or until the muffins are domed and golden brown around the edges. A skewer inserted into the center of a muffin should come out with a few moist crumbs attached. Cool the muffins in their muffin tin on a wire rack for 15 minutes, then use an offset spatula to run underneath the edges of the blueberry muffin tops to prevent them from sticking in the pan. Be careful to just run the offset spatula under the edges—you don't want to accidentally cut into the muffin bottom and decapitate the muffin from its top!
After unsticking the muffin tops, keep cooling the muffins in the tins completely to room temperature. DO NOT TRY AND TURN THE MUFFINS OUT WHILE THEY ARE STILL WARM. Because these muffins are so top-heavy, you’ll run the risk of accidentally pulling the tops and bottoms apart if the cake is still warm! Wait until they are cooled completely before turning them out of the pan. Run the offset spatula underneath each muffin top once more and gently tilt the muffin upwards to turn it out of the pan, lifting each one from its base.
Serve and store. Serve warm, or at room temperature. The muffins are best on the day that they’re made,