Home Cookin Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table

These are always well received.

Blueberry-Coconut Pound Cake Muffins
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Individual Blueberry-Coconut Pound Cake Muffins
Recipe courtesy Gourmet Magazine

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons freshly grated Orange, lemon or lime zest
2 large eggs
5 tablespoons heavy cream
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons sweetened flaked coconut
1/2 cup blueberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and butter and flour 7 (1/2-cup) muffin cups (just butter if nonstick).

Beat together butter, sugar, and zest until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Beat in cream, then flour and salt, on low speed until just combined. Stir in 1/2 cup coconut and gently stir in blueberries.

Spoon batter into cups, filling the cups, and smooth tops. Sprinkle tops with remaining 3 tablespoons of coconut.

Bake in middle of oven until a tester comes out clean and edges are golden brown, about 25 minutes. Invert onto a rack and cool.

These are excellent..... but I have no idea who Blanche was! LOL

Alexa
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Blanches Blueberry Muffins

"These are delicious and cake-like. I always double the recipe and make huge Texas style muffins."

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup butter
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups white sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour muffin pan or use paper liners. Sift flour, baking powder and salt together and set aside.
2. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and beat well. Add milk and flour mixture. Beat until combined. Stir in blueberries.
3. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 25 to 30 minutes.

Above recipes sound yummy! The Jordan Marsh recipe is still my favorite. One day I decided to 'play' with it; melted and browned the butter and then finished as written, adding a touch of mace. Worked well and now this is the way I make them.

I really like this recipe.

Blueberry Muffins (King Arthur)

* 9 1/2 ounces Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
* 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 2 ounces unsalted butter, at room temperature
* 5 1/4 ounces granulated sugar
* 2 large eggs
* 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
* 4 ounces sour cream or plain yogurt (I use sour cream)
* 7 1/2 ounces blueberries, fresh or frozen
* coarse white sparkling sugar for garnish (optional)

Directions

1) Preheat the oven to 375ðF. Line a muffin tin with papers, and grease the papers.

2) In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, then set aside.

3) In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar with a hand-held or stand mixer, until light, fluffy, and almost white in color. Start the mixer at low speed until the ingredients are incorporated, then gradually increase speed to medium-high until the desired color and texture are reached.

4) Scrape down the bowl to make sure all the butter is incorporated, then add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

5) Add the vanilla and sour cream or yogurt, and mix until incorporated.

6) Add the dry ingredients and mix on low speed just until the batter is smooth. It will be thick.

7) Fold in the berries by hand.

8) Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin cups, using a heaping 1/4-cup for each. Sprinkle with regular granulated or coarse white sugar, if desired.

9) Bake the muffins for 18 to 24 minutes, until a cake tester inserted in the center of one 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.

I favor blueberry muffins with lemon in the batter, juice and peel. My "go to" recipe is from the "Enchanted Broccoli Forest" cookbook by Mollie Katzen. I also make blueberry oatmeal muffins. Those are good but on the "healthy" side so nothing extra special. I find frozen blueberries lack bite, but that's probably because I buy the commercial ones from the store. If I want extra blueberry punch I'll hit a muffin with some of my homeade blueberry lime jam which was made from fresh blueberries.

This is our favorite version.
A true muffin, not cake-like.
But very good.

Blueberry Strusel Muffins

Muffin batter:
1 C buttermilk (may need to add a couple Tbsps more)
1/2 C butter, melted & slightly cooled.
2 eggs, beaten
1 C sugar
2 1/2 C AP flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 C blueberries.*
1 C chopped walnuts

Strusel topping:
1/3 C flour
1/3 C sugar
very scant 1/2 C butter
1 1/2 tsp (or to taste) cinnamon.
1/2 C walnuts, finely chopped. **

In large bowl,
mix dry ingredients (including walnuts and berries) together.
Set aside.

Beat eggs,
Add to melted butter and buttermilk.
Set aside.

Prepare Strusel topping:

Mix dry ingredients together.
Cut very cold butter into dry ingredients until crumbly.
Mix in walnuts.
Set aside.

Make a well in dry ingredients,
Add wet ingredients,
Mix together quickly until dry ingredients are just wet.
Do NOT over mix.
A few dry lumps in the batter are fine.

Put into prepared muffin tins.
Sprinkle Strusel topping on top.

Bake at 400 degrees until done.
(usually about 25 to 30 min)

Makes 12 jumbo or 24 regular sized muffins.

* I use a very full heaping pint box of fresh blueberrie when available.
I've never tried them with frozen berries, but they should work too.

** 1/2 C or more.
If a little is good, a lot is better, right? ;>)

Rusty