Gourmet Blueberry Muffins

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF (preferrably with the convection bake option to cook muffins thoroughly). Grease a muffin pan (recipe makes roughly 14 so you may need an extra pan if you have a 12-count pan).

2. Prepare the blueberry filling on the stove by mixing the blueberries, water and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Heat until the water is bubbling, then take a potato masher and mash up the blueberries. Reduce heat to low and stir every few minutes until the sugar is dissolved.

3. Meanwhile, mix the cake mix, flour, baking powder, salt and lemon zest in a large mixing bowl. Zest enough lemon to your liking.

4. Separately, mix the eggs and sugar in a medium bowl. Add the melted butter, buttermilk and vanilla. (Check on your filling! You may need to take it off the heat by now!)

5. Pour the egg/buttermilk mixture into the dry ingredients and use a whisk to stir thoroughly. Softly fold in the remaining cup of fresh blueberries.

6. Fill the muffin pan with the mixture, giving each muffin a fair amount of the blueberries that are mixed into the batter. Once the pan is filled, take the filling by small amounts and place on top of each muffin. Take a wooden skewer and swirl the filling all around in the muffin mix. (I don’t like to overmix at this point but I stir enough to blend the white mix with the purple filling a bit, creating a blueish/purplish effect in the end.)

7. Heat in the oven for 5-10 minutes before sprinkling brown sugar or regular sugar in top for a sweet topping. Then continue baking for another 5-10 minutes, or until lightly browned on top, for a total of 20 minutes baking time. These muffins taste best when completely cooled. I usually serve them the next day, if you can wait. That way the blueberries will have had time to sit and absorb!