Best Ever Blueberry Muffins

Preheat oven to 375 F. Prepare a 12-cup muffin pan by lining it with foil liners (not paper liners—they’ll stick terribly). Set pan aside.

For the topping:
Combine the sugar and nutmeg in a small bowl; set aside until needed.

For the muffins:
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt; set aside. Using a fork, mash 1/2 cup of the blueberries in a small bowl; set aside.

Using a hand mixer, cream butter and 1 cup sugar together in a medium bowl until creamy and light in color; add eggs, vanilla, and the 1/2 cup of mashed blueberries. Add 1/2 of the flour mixture; mix just until the dry ingredients are incorporated. Add 1/2 of the milk and mix just until combined. Repeat with the remaining flour mixture, followed by the remaining milk. Fold in the remaining 2 cups of whole blueberries. Portion batter evenly into muffin cups and sprinkle with the sugar/nutmeg topping. Bake for 25-30 minutes.

My Notes: I’ve never made this recipe using canned blueberries, but I’ve made it many times using frozen blueberries. This recipe works equally well with as little 1 1/2 cups of blueberries. For the topping, I sometimes substitute cinnamon for the nutmeg. I also like to sprinkle vanilla sugar on top of the muffins. The batter makes nice mini bread loaves too.

Freezer directions: Mary says you can freeze the muffins for up to two months before baking them. If you are doing this, portion the batter into the foil-lined muffin pan and place pan in the freezer until the batter is firm, then pop the frozen muffins out of the pan and store in a freezer-safe container. When you want freshly baked muffins, simply pop the frozen batter-filled foil cups back into a muffin pan and bake as directed; adding 5-6 minutes to the total baking time.

Recipe adapted from Best Ever Blueberry Muffins by Mary Hunt (creator of Everyday Cheapskate).