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Cinnamon Sugar-Dipped Blueberry Muffins

I made these blueberry muffins the other day and they’re delicious.   They also look really nice; the blueberries are distributed nicely through the muffins, and the sugar topping is very attractive.  The muffins themselves are not too sweet so the sugar topping is a nice addition.  I like the fact that they’re made without using a blender; everything is mixed by hand.   My family gobbled these up quickly.

I like cooking with ingredients that are on the list of ‘superfoods’, those foods that are packed with vitamins and minerals and have disease-fighting properties.  Blueberries are always on the list as they’re full of antioxidants, vitamin C and potassium.   They taste great too.   I usually have a bag of frozen blueberries on hand, which makes it easy to make muffins.

Cinnamon Sugar-Dipped Blueberry Muffins
From The New Best Recipe (From the Editors of Cooks Illustrated), page 705

2 cups (10 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1 cup (7 ounces) sugar
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 1/4 cups (10 ounces) sour cream
1 1/2 cups (7 1/2 to 8 ounces) frozen or fresh blueberries, preferable wild

For the topping:

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter

Adjust the oven rack to the  middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a standard 12-cup muffin tin and set aside.

Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl.  Whisk the egg in a second medium bowl until well combined and light-colored, about 20 seconds.  Add the sugar and whisk vigorously until thick and homogeneous, about 30 seconds;  add the melted butter in 2 or 3 additions, whisking to combine after each addition.  Add the sour cream in 2 additions, whisking just to combine.

Add the berries to the dry ingredients and gently toss just to combine.  Add the sour cream mixture and fold with a rubber spatula until the batter comes together and the berries are evenly distributed, 25 to 3o seconds.  (Small spots of flour may remain, and the batter will be thick.  Do not overmix.)

Using a large spoon sprayed with nonstick cooking spray to prevent sticking, divide the batter among the greased muffin cups.  Bake until the muffins are light golden brown and a toothpick or skewer inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes, rotating the pan from front to back halfway through the baking time.  Invert the muffins onto a wire rack, stand the muffins upright, and cool 5 minutes.

While the muffins are cooling, mix 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon in a small bowl and melt 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter in a small saucepan.  After the baked muffins have cooled 5 minutes, working one at a time, dip the top of each muffin in melted butter and then cinnamon sugar.  Set the muffins upright on a wire rack; serve.

Yield:  12 muffins