I don't make blueberry muffins – or any muffins – all that often but, when I do, I make my Aunt Rae's recipe. Today, I made them as a little birthday treat... for me!
Mom made muffins from time to time, but they were really never her thing. Her sister, Aunt Rae, however, was the Muffin Queen. She made the best, lightest, and most tender muffins I have ever eaten. And she wasn't afraid to try new varieties, either.
My favorites from her repertoire of muffins: rhubarb, golden raisin-rosemary, cinnamon pecan, plain, and - of course - blueberry.
To this day, she has ruined bakery muffins for me. You know the type: those gargantuan, heavy, gummy, baking powder-laden, oily fat bombs. When I get the occasional bakery muffin, I regret it only moments later, as it weighs like lead in my stomach.
Every time we visited Aunt Rae in her small town of Saxton's River, Vermont, breakfast consisted of cocoa and muffins. It became a tradition for us. We looked forward to her muffins each time we traveled over the mountains of New Hampshire from Maine.
She always said the blueberry muffin recipe was a family recipe, and I wish I knew from whom it came. Her mother (my Gramma)? Gramma's mother? I don't think we will ever know.
Her muffins weren't good because of the recipe, whether it was from the family, Bon Appétit, Cooking Light, or the local newspaper. They were good because she made them with a lot of love and care; I know that is the reason they were so good. Those are key ingredients for any muffin... for any cooking, really.
After making blueberry-lavender jam the other day, I had leftover blueberries. A birthday batch of muffins seemed like a good idea. I had some extra love and care on hand, too. I took the leftovers to work on Monday and, as it turns out, that was a good idea, too... they were gone in minutes!
~ David
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| Finished muffins on a special platter given to us by our friend Bunny as a wedding gift. |
Aunt Rae's Blueberry Muffins
(My sister-in-law's recipe card reads: Aunt Rae's FAMOUS Blueberry Muffins!)
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus extra for pans
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
large pinch salt
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups blueberries
2 tablespoons sugar
Preheat oven to 375°F.
On low speed, cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, and mix well until blended.
Sift dry ingredients together (I whisk them together in a mixing bowl) and add them alternately with the milk in three additions each. Add the vanilla and stir to blend.
Mash half the berries in a bowl, then stir into the batter with a wooden spoon. Carefully stir in the remaining whole berries.
Grease 18 regular muffin tins well with butter. Fill each mold about two-thirds full. Sprinkle with sugar and bake for 30 minutes. Let cool 30 minutes in the pan before removing them to finish cooling on racks.
(Note: my muffin tins are not nonstick, so I cut small circles of parchment and place them on the butter in the bottom of each tin. Then, when unmolding, I us a very thin rubber spatula to release the sides. I peel off the parchment before serving.)
Makes 18 muffins. Labels: blueberries, blueberry, muffins
