I FOUND MY THRILLS

The last thing a teenager wants to hear are intimate details about their parents relationship. The second to last thing a teenager wants to hear (or see) is their father standing in a kitchen wearing a polyester robe singing "I found my thrills on Blueberry Hill." As a teenager with an over-active imagination, that was indeed the last thing I needed to see before heading off to school, but something the adult kid in me misses from time to time. One of the thrills of growing up with two working parents were the delicious breakfasts they cooked for us on the weekends...German pancakes, eggs benedict, freshly squeezed orange juice and, often, fresh blueberry muffins. Feeling a bit nostalgic this weekend we headed up hill (both ways) to the grocery store, grabbed some fresh blueberries (well, freshly frozen by VanDeKamp) and baked blueberry muffins...ummm, what a thrill we found from a tiny mound of blueberries!

FIND YOUR WAY TO BLUEBERRY HILL:

Cooks Illustrated takes us on a tour this month of the best blueberry muffins. To print this recipe, click the title above and print!

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups fresh blueberries (we used frozen from the grocery store)

1 1/8 cups (8 ounces) plus 1 teaspoon sugar

2 1/2 cups (12.5 ounces) unbleached all purpose flour

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon table salt

2 large eggs

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 cup buttermilk

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1.) Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 425. Spray muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray (we used Pam). Bring 1 cup blueberries and 1 teaspoon sugar to simmer in small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, mashing berries with spoon several times and stirring frequently, until berries have broken down and mixture is thickened and reduced to 1/4 cup (about 6 minutes). Transfer to small bowl and cool 10-15 minutes.

2.) Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in large bowl. Whisk remaining 1 1/8 cups sugar and eggs together in medium bowl until thick, about 45 seconds. Slowly whisk in butter and vanilla until combined. Whisk in buttermilk and vanilla until combined. Using rubber spatula, fold egg mixture and remaining cup of blueberries into flour mixture until just moistened. (Batter will be very lumpy with few spots of dry flour; do not overmix)

3.) Pour batter into muffin cups, filling cup completely. Spoon teaspoon of cooked berry mixture into center of each mound of batter. Using chopstick or toothpick, gently swirl berry mixture into batter.

4.) Bake until muffin tops are golden and just firm, 17 to 19 minutes, rotating muffin tin from front to back halfway through baking time. Cool muffins in muffin tin for five minutes then transfer onto drying rack for another 5 minutes.
TIME TO COMPLETE TASK: Approx 45 minutes

COST: under $10

STRESS LEVEL: Not terribly concerned about my muffin tops: LOW