Ice cream blueberry muffins

 

I'm not much into gimmicky food. Viral sensations like this one for three-ingredient muffins elude me until they appear in newsprint. In this case the Washington Post weighed in with meticulous testing of a variety of ice creams, a gluten-free option, etc. 

I, on the other hand, totally half-assed it. I didn't have self-rising flour because why would I? I confess I had always assumed that self-rising flour existed because of laziness or cabin/camp convenience, the equivalent of biscuit mix. But when I looked for the substitution, King Arthur Flour explains that this apparently Southern staple is generally made with a softer, lower protein wheat that grows in the region. Their substitution recipe is 1 cup all-purpose flour, 1½ teaspoon baking powder and ¼ teaspoon salt, but notes that for tender baked goods, you may wish to use pastry flour instead of all purpose.

By the time I made the substitution and added in the two optional ingredients, they became 7-ingredient muffins, but they're still pretty speedy to make.

3-Ingredient blueberry muffins
From Brunch With Babs on TikTok via the Washington Post.

Ingredients
1⅓ cup vanilla ice cream, softened to soft-serve stage (err on the generous side when measuring)
1 cup self-rising flour
2 teaspoons orange or lemon zest, optional
¾ cup fresh blueberries
Sugar for garnish, optional (the Post called for turbinado; I went with Demerara, but any sugar would do in a pinch)

Method
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line or grease 6 regular size muffin cups.

Mix ice cream, flour and zest in a large bowl until just combined. Fold in blueberries. Using a ¼-cup measure, divide batter among prepared muffin cups. Sprinkle with sugar, if using. Bake for 30 to 33 minutes.

Rating: I was highly skeptical, but these are actually pretty darn tasty. I went with orange zest because that's what I had on hand, and the result was a quite packed with flavor. The ice cream apparently does its job delivering the cream/sugar component. They rose to a reasonable height, and while they may not have had quite the perfect texture like these classic muffins, they worked well enough. I'm not sure I'd make them again because I don't tend to buy ice cream or self-rising flour, but if that's what you've got in the house, you could certainly do worse.

But really: What recipe makes 6 muffins? The effort-to-yield ratio seems off. The Post article did note that it works fine doubled. It also notes that they're better served fresh out of the oven, so perhaps in this case, maybe fewer is better for a small household.