New England Blueberry Muffins

I received my weekly "Heart of New England" newsletter this week and was quite intrigued by the recipe for "The Best New England Blueberry Muffins". I just had to try it! Go pull out the blueberries you froze from all that picking you did!

So this is a quick fly by weekend post for some yummy blueberry muffins. Oh so simple, you have to try them. And if you have one of those wonderful muffin top pans, this is a great recipe. The tops on these muffins are soooo crispy and yummy.

New England Blueberry Muffins
For twelve muffins:

½ cup butter
2 cups flour (we use King Arthur unbleached all purpose)
1 ¼ cups sugar, plus 2 tablespoons for the muffin tops
2 large eggs
½ cup milk
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
2 ½ cups blueberries.
Zest of 1 lemon (optional)

Heat the oven to 375 degrees.

With the mixer on slow, cream the butter and sugar until they are fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, and mix until they are well blended. Add the lemon zest, if using.

With the mixer on slow, sift the dry ingredients and add them, alternating with half the milk, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients.

Mash ½ cup of the blueberries and mix them with the batter by hand. Add the whole berries and stir them in by hand, or skip mashing the ½ cup and mix in all the berries whole.

Grease a muffin tin, including the top, with the butter (the batter will spill onto the top during baking). Pile the batter high in each cup of the tin and sprinkle the sugar over the tops.

Bake the muffins at 375 degrees for 25 – 30 minutes, testing with a toothpick or wooden skewer for doneness. The muffins should cool in the tin on a rack for 25 minutes before they are served.