Not too sweet and loaded with blueberries these muffins, if I’m honest, are really just my favorite cornmeal pancakes made into easily storable/snackable muffin form.
Looking for a more straight up fruit muffin? Try these strawberry ones instead (You can sub out blueberries 😉
I grew up on the west coast so I was raised on blueberries that were the size of gum drops or marbles, giant juicy orbs that grow on bushes in backyards or strategically placed for grazing along garden paths. One of my treasured picture books was Blueberries for Sal so I suspected not all blueberries were the same but I also believed that corks grew in bunches on cork trees thanks to Ferdinand. So imagine my delighted surprise when I spent my first summer in Maine and discovered blueberry fields that looked exactly like the ones from Robert McCloskey’s illustrations. In Maine there are no other blueberries- only a fool would serve “Jersey Berries” lest they risk derision and scorn. I love both but when it comes to frozen I only buy wild blueberries, they have much more color and flavor. SO GO WILD.
random aside:
After watching the bit about NRATV on Last Night Tonight with John Oliver, every time I write the word muffin I think of this. The muffin part starts at 18:30.
Blueberry Cornbread Muffins
additional notes
I used one 10 ounce bag of frozen blueberries divided- adding them to the batter and topping frozen
in the process photo I added the wet ingredients into the egg whites because that bowl was larger- the most important part is to fold rather than stir- not sure of the difference? This guide from Crafty Baking covers it all!
Wild Blueberry Cornbread Muffins
Equipment
- whisk or stand mixer
- muffin tin
- muffin tin liners
Ingredients
Liquids
- 1 cup liquid why so vague? because you could use any milk or milk substitute you want here, I prefer something with a bit of tang like european style yogurt or buttermilk but I’ve made variations with almond milk for my no dairy friends
- 2 large eggs yolks in a large bowl, whites in the mixer or bowl to be whisked with 1 Tbsp of sugar
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive -again this could be a lighter oil or melted butter if that’s what you prefer/have on hand.
- 1 tsp vanilla (optional, see notes above)
dry ingredients
- 1 cup All Purpose Flour
- 1 cup cornmeal – a medium grind will give a more toothsome muffin, the fine grind something… finer.
- 1/4 cup sugar (I used vanilla sugar)
- 1 Tbsp baking powder
- 1 tsp diamond kosher salt
- 1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries if frozen toss with 1 tsp all purpose flour before adding to the batter
topping
- 1/2 cup fresh or frozen blueberries you know the little ones
- 1/4 cup All Purpose Flour
- 1 Tbsp brown sugar
- 1 Tbsp cold salted butter
Instructions
- preheat the oven to 400F and prepare the muffin tin (this will make 12 muffins)
- put the egg whites and 1 tbsp sugar in the mixing bowl and whisk until peaks just begin to form
- while that is whisking (unless, of course, you are whisking by hand) combine the remaining wet ingredients in a medium bowl and the all the dry ingredients except the blueberries in another large bowl
- fold the wet ingredients into the dry until just combined but there can still be dry patches, you’ve got more folding to do
- now add the blueberries and fold in once or twice to distribute
- now add the egg whites, folding in as gently as possible until well combined
- scoop batter into prepared muffin tins
- using your fingers or a fork mix together all the topping ingredients except the blueberries- once you've got a crumble add in the blueberries and distribute the evenly over the tops of the muffins
- bake on the middle rack 17-20 minutes or until a toothpick stabbed in the middle of one of the muffins comes out clean. This time can vary wildly depending on your oven_ I start checking after 15 minutes but have had the bake time go as long as 25 minutes.
- best served warm from the oven but still darn tasty 12 hours later. I freeze whatever doesn’t get immediately consumed and reheat as needed.
Notes
Too much olive oil. It affected the taste. And it could have used more sugar. Also took longer to bake than what was suggested in the recipe.