Buttermilk Blueberry Muffin Recipe

These light, tender and moist muffins contain soft, juicy blueberries. We like to serve them warm from the oven so the tops are still crunchy. The muffins are best eaten within two days of making.

When testing this recipe with frozen blueberries that had a lot of frozen juice attached, we found that the juice rapidly melted into the batter. Although this added significant blueberry flavour to the muffins, a bright purple batter resulted. If you would prefer to minimise this, place the frozen berries in a strainer and quickly rinse them with cold water, tip onto a double thickness of paper towel, and then refreeze until required.

When testing this recipe with fairly firm, fresh blueberries, we found that no noticeable amount of juice escaped, and as a result, the cakey part of the muffins was less flavoursome. If you would prefer the berries to flavour (and colour) the batter, you could lightly crush about a quarter of the fresh berries before adding them to the mixture.

Makes 12 muffins.

We use a 20ml tablespoon and 250ml measuring cup for all of our recipes.

210g (1 1/2 cups) frozen (unthawed) or fresh blueberries
1 large egg (we use eggs with a minimum weight of 59g)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (2 teaspoons natural vanilla essence)
125ml (1/2 cup) oil (we use sunflower oil, but any mild-flavoured oil can be used)
208ml (3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon) buttermilk
300g (2 cups) self-raising flour
168g (3/4 cup) caster sugar (finely granulated sugar)

Preheat oven to 190 degrees Celsius (170 degrees Celsius fan-forced).

Line 12 holes of a muffin pan (1/3 cup capacity holes) with paper or foil cases that measure about 5cm across the base and 8cm across the top.

If you are using frozen blueberries, weigh or measure them, and then return to them to the freezer.

Using a fork or whisk, beat egg, vanilla, oil and buttermilk together in a medium bowl until well combined. © exclusivelyfood.com.au

Stir self-raising flour and caster sugar together in a large bowl until well combined. Add the blueberries and stir gently to coat with flour mixture. Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture.

Pour wet ingredients into the well in the dry ingredients.

Using a spoon or spatula, gently fold ingredients together until just combined. Don't over mix the batter as this may make the muffins tough and release too much purple colour into the batter.

Divide the batter evenly among the cases.

Bake for about 23-25 minutes, until a thin-bladed knife or wooden skewer inserted into the centre of a muffin comes out without any batter attached.

Leave muffins to cool in the pan for five minutes.

Serve, or transfer to a wire rack to cool. Store cooled muffins in an airtight container at room temperature or in the freezer. © www.exclusivelyfood.com.au