Irresistible Blueberry Muffins

My father is an excellent chef and baker. He makes three blueberry pastries that are impossible to resist - his wafer thin blueberry pancakes, his irresistible fresh blueberry muffins and his legendary blueberry pie.

Numerous people have asked my father to share these recipes over the years, but he has always kept them a well guarded secret. In the past I have tried to make my father's blueberry muffins without the recipe, unfortunately with little success. It was only last year that he finally decided to share his secret recipe with me.

Blueberry muffins can be difficult to get right without a good recipe; they frequently turn out too dense and not airy enough, or even worse, too dry. To make the perfect blueberry muffin you need the perfect recipe and this what I am going to share with you here.

Harald's secret recipe for irresistible blueberry muffins

Blueberry Muffin Ingredients 

 

6 Cups of all purpose flour

2 Cups of sugar

4 Large eggs

20 Tablespoons of unsalted butter, preferably slightly softened

3 Cups of plain natural yogurt
2 Tablespoons of baking powder
1 Teaspoon of baking soda
1 Teaspoon of salt

2 Teaspoons of finely grated lemon peel

3 Cups of fresh blueberries

(If you have to use frozen blueberries you will need 2 extra Tablespoons of flour)

Start by making sure that the oven rack is adjusted to the middle-lower part of the oven and then preheat the oven to 375°F. Carefully whisk together the baking powder, baking soda, and salt with the flour and then set aside for later.

Use a large bowl suitable for beating, and mix the butter and sugar together, making sure it is well mixed. Then add the eggs one at a time and beat until everything is well mixed together after each egg. Thereafter mix in the grated lemon peel.

Slowly mix in half of the dry ingredients but take care not to overdue the beating. Mix in about a third of the yogurt.

Beat in half of the remaining dry ingredients and then mix in a second third of the yogurt and when well mixed beat in the remaining dry ingredients and thereafter the remaining part of the natural yogurt. Make sure not to overdue the beating at this point.

Carefully fold in the blueberries. If you have to use frozen blueberries, (not recommended) you need to defrost them first and then drain them of liquid. Thereafter coat them in a light dusting of flour before folding them into the mix. You will need at least two standard 12-muffin muffin pans. Coat the muffin cups with a think layer of butter.

Pour the muffin dough equally among the cups being careful not to overfill each cup. Bake the muffins in the oven at 375°F until they have light golden brown color. Normally this should take about 25 to 30 minutes, but check frequently, especially if you have a fan assisted oven. Use a thin wooden skewer or a toothpick to check that the centers of the blueberry muffins are properly baked.

Once ready leave the muffins on a wire rack to cool down for about 10 minutes and then remove them from the muffin pans. Serve the freshly baked blueberry muffins slightly warm together with English breakfast tea or hot chocolate with a small dollop of whipped cream. You can now sit back enjoy your newly earned title as the best blueberry muffin baker your friends and family have ever met.