Blueberry and Lemon Muffins

Have You Seen the Muffin Man?

I remember singing this song when I was young

(a long time ago now)

and whenever we decide to bake muffins at home

I end up humming this to myself.

It's a busy bee thing.

As I mentioned in my last post,

the shops are now getting all of the gorgeous summer fruits in abundance

and I bought some blueberries the other day,

but wasn't sure I was going to do with them.

An impulse buy if ever there was one.

There had been a couple of lemons rolling around in the fruit bowl

for a few days and after a few minutes pondering what do with them both,

Muffins sprang to mind.

You could substitute the blueberries for other fruit too.

This really is a general, all-rounder recipe.

You will need :





150g softened unsalted butter

100g caster sugar

2 medium eggs, lightly beaten

120ml whole fat milk

250g self raising flour

zest of 1 lemon

125g blueberries

a little demerara sugar for the topping

1. Line a muffin tin with muffin cases.

(I had some pretty pink tulip style cases I had been itching to use.)

Pre heat the oven to 200c / 180c fan  / gas 6.

2. In a bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until pale and then gradually add the eggs and milk  little at a time.

The mixture may look a little curdled at this point but don't worry

it will come together at the next stage.

( My little helper for the day )

3. Fold in the flour and lemon zest until the mixture is just combined.

Overworking the mixture can result in the muffins feeling little on the heavy side.

4. Fold in the blueberries.

Again the mixture dos not require too much mixing

as the blueberries will start to burst and you end up with purple muffins.

5. Divide into the muffin cases.

I find an ice cream scoop very helpful with this,

as you get an even dollop in each case.

Top each muffin with a sprinkling of the demerera sugar and

pop into the oven for 25-30 minutes,

or until the muffins are risen and golden on top.

( I had help with the dishes )

6. Leave the muffins to cool in he tin for 5-10 minutes and then transfer to a wire cooling rack.

These will keep for 3-4 days in a container,

but taste delicious when fresh and just warm.

Until next time,

enjoy your day.