Blueberry lemon yogurt muffins

 

Got room for one more blueberry muffin contender? We did.

Lemony yogurt muffins
From “Baking with Dorie” by Dorie Greenspan. The recipe stipulates that the dairy/egg ingredients be at room temperature to achieve optimal texture, so melt and cool your butter first, set out your eggs and measure out the yogurt before you get down to the business of assembling the muffins. It’s easier to achieve room temperature quickly in August. Greenspan also bakes these plain without blueberries, or with whatever else she wants to fold in instead.

Ingredients
4 ounces (1 stick) butter
2 cups flour
2¼ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
⅓ cup sugar
Zest of 1 lemon
¾ cup plain yogurt
2 eggs
1½ cups blueberries
Lemon curd, or lemon or orange marmalade, optional

Method
Melt butter, set aside to cool.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line or grease 12 muffin cups.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. In a small bowl, combine sugar and lemon zest with your fingers to distribute the lemon oil throughout. Whisk into flour mixture.

In a separate bowl or 2-cup measure, combine yogurt and eggs. Whisk in melted, cooled butter. Fold into flour mixture with a scraping spatula until just barely combined. Fold in berries. Divide mixture among muffin cups, about ¼ cup each. Bake for 18-20 minutes until golden brown and they pass the toothpick test cleanly.

Remove from oven and let sit 5 minutes before brushing with a scant bit of lemon curd or marmalade, if desired.

Rating: Oh, these are tasty. Nice classic muffin texture, and if classic, un-streusel-laden, white-flour blueberry muffins are your preferred option, I’m not sure there’s a better version out there. (No, this won’t stop me from trying, but this is the new standard to beat.) We tried them both ways, both with and without lemon curd. They were perfectly dandy without, but they were really delightful with it. 

They didn't need additional butter, which is handy, since we're rationing our usage of our remaining Hope Creamery butter. The creamery still housed in its home of more than 100 years is offline for some needed updates, and some supply chain issues are adding delay, so the spot where the butter is usually shelved has been achingly empty for weeks. I've had to supplement with the stuff that comes cut in sticks, which is handier and cheaper, but not nearly as good. Fingers crossed that this is resolved before holiday baking season or my baking reputation will be in tatters. It's not really me; it's that butter.