Best Blueberry Muffins, Gluten-Free

Greetings!  I’m just back from attending the International Food Bloggers Conference.  I am at once exhausted and elated!  I will be writing a post about that later.

I wanted to share a new recipe for blueberry muffins. It’s the tail end of blueberry season here in Seattle and I’ve been eating them every chance I get.  Everyone in my family loves blueberries, and I’m always on the lookout for new recipes in which to incorporate them.  I already have another blueberry muffin recipe on the site–honey blueberry muffins–but this one is a bit different.  In this recipe, you make a quick jam with some of the blueberries and then swirl that jam into the batter at the last minute.  It creates muffins that are just oozing with blueberry flavor–delish!  And, the crumb of these muffins is fantastic!  Even Girlfriend, who isn’t the biggest fan of fruit in her muffins, loves these.  Yay!

Best Blueberry Muffins, Gluten-Free
-adapted from May/June 2009 Cook’s Illustrated
makes 12 Muffins

Special Equipment Needed
-hand mixer is quite useful
-muffin pans
-chopstick or some other pointy utensil to stir jam into batter

Note: This recipe uses my gluten-free flour mix:
Jeanne’s Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour Mix (mix together and store in a cool, dark place):
1 1/4 C (170g) brown rice flour
1 1/4 C (205g) white rice flour
1 C (120g) tapioca flour
1 C (165g) sweet rice flour (also known as Mochiko)
2 scant tsp. xanthan gum
(you can also use the gluten-free flour mixture (not baking mix) of your choice–just be sure it contains xanthan gum. Or, you can add 1/4 tsp. xanthan gum per cup of gluten-free flour. If you use bean flour, it will add a bean taste to the muffins)

Ingredients

Muffins
2 cups (about 285g) fresh blueberries, picked over
1 1/8 C (225g) plus 1 tsp sugar
2 1/2 C (350g) Jeanne’s Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour Mix
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 large or extra large eggs
4 TBL (1/2 stick; 2 oz; 55g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly (you can also use a butter substitute)
1/4 C (60ml)neutral-flavored oil (I use Rice Bran oil)
1 C (240ml) buttermilk (or 1 C milk or milk substitute w/2 tsp vinegar mixed in)
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Lemon Sugar Topping (optional)
1/3 C (66g) granulated sugar
1 1/2 tsp finely grated lemon zest
Mix together and set aside.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Prepare your muffin pans–I use muffin papers in mine.  You can also grease cups with extra butter and flour with extra tapioca flour.

For the jam: in a small saucepan, bring 1 cup blueberries and 1 tsp sugar to simmer over medium heat. Cook, mashing berries and stirring frequently, until berries have broken down and mixture is thickened and reduced to about 1/4 C, about 6 minutes (don’t get too worried about the exact measurement). Transfer to small bowl and cool to room temperature–about 10-15 minutes.

In a small bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, and salt.

In a large bowl, beat eggs for a couple a minutes–until light.  Add remaining 1 1/8 C sugar and beat for about 3 minutes more.  Slowly add melted and cooled butter and oil, beat for a few minutes more.  Add vanilla, beat to combine.

Now add flour mixture and buttermilk, alternating between the two–beginning and ending with the flour mixture.  With a large spoon, fold in the remaining 1 C of whole blueberries.

Divide the batter equally among 12 prepared muffin cups.  The batter should fill each cup and mound slightly.  With a teaspoon, spoon the jam onto the top of each batter-filled mound.  Using a chopstick (or something similar), gently swirl the jam into the batter.

If using, sprinkle a bit of lemon sugar topping onto each mound of batter.  You can also just sprinkle plain granulated sugar on each.  Or not use any topping.  All options are delicious!

Bake at 425 for about 19 minutes–until tops are golden brown.  Cool in pans for 5 minutes and then remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Enjoy!
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