YIELD: 6-12 muffins

Ingredients:

• 2 1⁄2 cups flour

• 1 ½ tsp. baking powder

• ½ teaspoon baking soda

• 1⁄4 teaspoon salt

• 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

• 2 eggs, beaten

• 3⁄4 cup sugar

• 1 cup buttermilk

• 4 ounces (browned) butter or 1⁄2 cup canola-butter

• 1 ½ cups blueberries

• 1 teaspoon vanilla (optional)

• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest (optional)

• cinnamon sugar (optional)

What could be better than the smell of fresh baked bread or muffins? I love blueberry muffins with coffee for my morning jump start. For this recipe, I add cinnamon and nutmeg, and lemon zest, flavors that compliment the blueberries. I also lightly brown the butter to add extra richness and flavor to the muffins.

Preparation:

1. Sift the first five dry ingredients together in a large bowl.

2. In another bowl, whisk eggs and sugar until creamy, whisk in the buttermilk and butter that has been melted until just beginning to turn brown.

3. Add blueberries and lemon zest to dry ingredients and mix gently to coat berries with flour

4. Make a well in dry ingredients and pour in liquid ingredients, mixing quickly. Don’t over-mix, or the muffins will be tough.

5. Spoon batter into a greased muffin pan or line the muffin pan cups with paper muffin cups, sprinkle with cinnamon sugar, and bake till golden brown.

6. Bake at 400 F for 20-30 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the muffin comes out clean with no batter sticking to the pick.

   *Note: If you use frozen blueberries, the cooking time will be longer than 20 minutes.