I don’t obsess about too many things, but I can be quietly dogged over a long period of time in search of something that I want. And I want the perfect blueberry muffin. So far I haven’t found it, but these are coming a LOT closer. I started with the blueberry muffin recipe from that venerable Boston department store, Jordan Marsh, that was published on the New York Times website by Marion Burros. And then I moved on from there. My muffins have the tang of lemon zest (a natural with blueberries, in my opinion) and the addition of pure almond extract as well as some sliced almonds on top, mixed with the sugar of the original recipe. (You can leave out the almond extract and they will still be delicious. You definitely don’t want to overwhelm the pure blueberry flavor with almond here, but the amount I used was pretty gentle in its over all effect.) I also increased the amount of blueberries I used by half a cup based on reader comments. I reduced the amount of salt since I generally find that these recipes have too much salt for my taste. And while I used some beautiful organic blueberries, I knew from past experience that the blueberry flavor needed an extra boost to really achieve the result I wanted. The original recipe had you mash 1/2 cup of the fresh blueberries, but I decided to add some wild blueberry all-natural preserves from France to 1/4 cup of mashed blueberries instead. I’m sure that there are some equally wonderful American brands – this was simply what I had on hand. (Just don’t use jelly, which is too thin and try to buy the brand that has the fewest ingredients, with blueberries listed first.) These muffins are best eaten the day they are made but can be frozen, defrosted and warmed in a 325 degree F oven when you are ready to eat them. If you make them the night before, just don’t cover them or they will be too moist the next day. I did actually store additional leftovers in a glass container and briefly microwaved them to serve. While not perfect, they were still remarkably delicious. These are THE most blueberry-y muffins I have personally ever tasted.

Blueberry Muffins  

Yield: About 1 dozen regular-sized muffins (I actually got 15 muffins but could have mounded them a bit higher.)

Ingredients

1/2 cup (1 stick) of room temperature unsalted butter

1.25 cups granulated sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Generous 1/4 teaspoon pure almond extract (Depends on how much almond flavor you want. I used only 1/4 teaspoon and probably could have used a bit more. You can also leave this out if you don’t want any almond flavor.)

Zest of one small lemon

1/4 teaspoon Kosher or fine sea salt

2 large eggs

2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 cup milk (the recipe called for whole milk but I used skim plus some heavy cream which I happened to have)

2.5 cups of fresh blueberries, washed, well drained and picked over; mash 1/4 cup of berries and set aside

2 Tablespoons wild blueberry preserves (I used St. Dalfour brand)

3 teaspoons of granulated or raw sugar (I used raw for this to give a little extra texture)

Sliced raw almonds for sprinkling over the tops

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a standard-sized muffin tin with paper liners. (You really need to do this if you don’t want the muffins to stick since they are so moist.)
2. Cream the butter, 1.25 cups of sugar and the lemon zest. This should be done by hand. Over-working muffin batter will make them tough. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add the vanilla, blueberry preserve and mashed blueberries and almond extract. Gently mix through.
3. Sift together the flour, salt and baking powder and set aside a couple of tablespoons to toss with the berries.
4. Add the flour mixture and milk to the creamed butter and egg mixture. Alternate the flour and milk, beginning and ending with the flour. Just mix enough until the ingredients are incorporated but do not over-mix.
5. Gently toss the whole blueberries with the flour mixture you had set aside. Be careful not to break them up. Coating them with the flour prevents them sinking to the bottom of the muffins. Fold the mixture through the batter very gently trying not to break up more berries than absolutely necessary.
6. Generously line the muffin cups. You can even mound them slightly over the tops. I did not, which is why I ended up with 15 muffins instead of 12. They will be delicious either way.
7. Sprinkle sugar and sliced raw almonds over the tops of the muffins and bake for about 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Ovens vary so go by looks and smell as much as by timing.
8. Remove the tin from the oven and carefully remove the muffins from the tin onto a cooling rack. I used a very thin metal spatula to help me lift the muffins out. Do not dump them or they will squish since they are so moist and laden with berries. If you leave them in the tin, the bottoms will steam. Just be careful. It takes a bit of practice but is really not difficult. If you can discipline yourself, try to wait about 30 minutes before eating. It won’t be easy!