Blueberry Muffins

Deliciously moist and soft blueberry muffins made with greek yoghurt and a hint of vanilla, and drizzled with white chocolate.

Happy Thanksgiving to all the Americans out there! (Have you got your Joey's Thanksgiving pants on yet?)

I'm currently reaching for my second as I write this. Okay, maybe my third.

These blueberry muffins are the perfect treat for breakfast when you're in a rush (or lunch... or dinner...or anytime of the day really..) Bursting with sweet and tangy blueberries, mixed together in a super soft crumb thats secret ingredient... is yoghurt!

One of my favourite food blogs is Handle The Heat - I'm sure you must have seen some of Tessa's recipes; they are delicious and her photos are always so so pretty and drool worthy. She has several 'Ultimate Guides' on her site, and her muffin ultimate guide is what has made me switch my baking style. She tested out small variations when baking muffins, whether it be different ingredients, over beating or temperature control, to show the vast difference in results and which method worked best.

Taking her advice of increasing the temperature, I started these muffins out with five minutes at 425F/Gas mark 7 and then decreased to 375F/Gas Mark 5 for the 15 minutes. The high to low temperature change is a really great trick, as it gives them a lovely height that if you had baked them at the same temp the entire time, they wouldn't have risen to.

I will now bake aaalllll my muffins like this. Because the results are great.

These muffins are my Dads favourite, so they are a regular in our household. But they don't last longer than a couple of days.They were perfect for today, which has been cold and miserable outside - why would you even want to be outside when you could be cuddled up inside with blankets and a batch of blueberry muffins?! Mmm..

As Sheldon Cooper says: "If outside is so good, why has man spent thousands of years perfecting the inside?"

This recipe is adapted from CrunchyCreamySweet's Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Muffins, I have reduced the sugar and switched the chocolate chips for blueberries... because I just love blueberry muffins. Try out her chocolate chip muffins too because they are delicious!!

I love discovering new food blogs, they've become like my new form of cookbook. I could happily spend hours lusting after delicious photos of nearly any form of food and not be bored. I may be slightly hungry though. That's why I love Pinterest so much, I guess, trawling through different searches and the food pages, looking at what others pin, wishing it could magically appear right in front of me.. *sighs*

Blueberry Muffins

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
Total time: 35 minutes
Yield: 18-20
Adapted from: CrunchyCreamySweet 

Ingredients

• 385g / 13.5 oz (+3 tbsp) all purpose flour
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp bicarbinate of soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 140g / 5oz butter, room temperature
• 250g / 9 oz caster sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 430g / 15oz Greek Yoghurt (I used fat free)
• 150g / 5.3oz blueberries
• 50g / 1.8oz white chocolate chips 

Cooking Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425F/Gas Mark 7. Line two muffins tins with paper liners.
2. In a bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, bicarbinate soda and salt until well combined.
3. In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
4. One at a time, add each egg, mxing well after each addition. Then add the vanilla and mix.
5. While mixing slowly, add dry ingredients 1/2 cup scoops at a time, alternating with the greek yoghurt until well combined. Do not overmix.
6. In a small bowl, add 3 tbsp of flour and the blueberries and shake until blueberries are lightly coated. This will prevent the blueberries from sinking to the bottom of the muffin. Then add the blueberries to the mixture, stiring with a spatula.
7. Scoop batter out into the lined muffin cases, filling the muffins to the top.
8. Bake for 5 minutes in 435F/Gas Mark 7 oven, then reduce temperature to 375F/Gas Mark 5 and bake for final 15 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
9. Cool in the muffin tin slightly, before moving onto a wire rack to cool completely. 
10. Melt the cwhite chocolate chips in the microwave or on top of a stove, then drizzle across muffins with a piping bag or spoon.
11. Keep up to a week, and you can freeze them for up to 1 month (if you can't finish the batch that is, but I dare you to try and resist!)

Let me know how yours turned out!