Blueberry Lemon Corn Muffins

My culinary philosophy, such as it is, is based on the theory that combining sweet and savory in a dish makes that dish better. Which is probably why I like the combination of lemon and blueberries in muffins, so that the acidity of the lemon can bring out the sweetness of the berries. With blueberries so plentiful (and local) right now, I've been thinking about blueberry lemon muffins quite a bit lately. And I had a corn muffin recipe that I wanted to try, so I thought, why not combine the two into one muffin? The results were a good as I'd hoped, although they should be taken with a muffin crumb grain of salt, because there are few things as good as warm, fresh muffins.

The key to muffins is to mix them as little and as gently as possible. Being too lazy to dirty two bowls I always start with the wet ingredients first, mixing them together in a large bowl and then sifting the dry ingredients onto the wet ones. Once all of the dry ingredients are resting on top of the wet ones I then fold (not stir) the dry into the wet. To fold one ingredient into another take a spatula and drop it down into the middle of the bowl.  Then slide it along the bottom, pulling it toward you so that the ingredients on the bottom end up on the top.  (That's one fold.)  Give the bowl a quarter turn and repeat. Don't worry if all of the dry ingredients aren't mixed in, just get most of the ingredients combined (about 10 - 12 folds).

Blueberry Lemon Corn Muffins

1 cup unbleached all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat white flour
1 cup fine stone-ground yellow cornmeal
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
8 tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter melted and slightly cooled
3/4 cup sour cream
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
Zest of 1 lemon
Juice of 1 lemon
1 pint washed fresh blueberries

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and grease a muffin tin (12 or 6 cup, your choice).

Whisk the eggs together in a large bowl until well combined and light colored. Add the sugar to the eggs and whisk until the sugar is well combined and the mixture is light in color. Add the butter in 3 additions, whisking between each addition to combine throughly. Add the vanilla half the sour cream and half the milk, whisking to combine. Whisk in the remaining sour cream and milk, the lemon zest and the lemon juice.

Sift the flour, cornmeal, salt, baking powder, and baking soda onto the wet ingredients. Drop the blueberries on top of the dry ingredients (so that they get slightly covered in the dry ingredients) and then fold the dry ingredients gently into the wet ingredients until they are just combined. Using a 1/4 measuring cup, ladel the muffin mix into the muffin tin, filing each cup evenly.

Bake for approximately 18 minutes if you are using a 12-cup pan and for approximately 30 minutes with the 6-cup muffin pan. When using the 6-cup muffin pan, turn the heat down to 350 after the muffins have been in the oven for 20 minutes. Serve with a dusting of confectioner's sugar on the top (if you can wait for them to cool before eating).  Bon Appetit!


Makes 6 to 12

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