Hello.

My word, it’s been a long time. A really looooooooong time. And it’s my fault—that’s right—you can place the onus squarely on me. I guess you could say that I’m not too great about keeping in touch. Apologies.

I have an excuse, a rather good one in fact. But first, I’m going to butter you up—with muffins.

Muffins can be a tricky thing. Purchased on-the-go from a non-reputable coffee joint they can be a leaden, flavorless mass. Bought from a vendor at your local farmer’s market and they can have a crunchy sugar-coated top and chewy oats within. But when you are searching for the best muffin, when running to the farmer’s market, or even the bakery simply won’t do, you need to make them yourself.

This classic blueberry muffin recipe is actually based on a Sour Cream-Peach Muffin that I found in Jim Fobel’s Old Fashioned Baking Book. You will notice that from my pictures, those do not look anything like peaches. They’re not—I made classic Blueberry Muffins. Oh, and I used yogurt, not sour cream. So I guess this recipe is truly inspired by Mr. Fobel’s.

These muffins are tender and moist, slightly sweet, and bursting with blueberries (or peaches, or plums, or nectarines, really, anything you have on hand). Made on a Sunday morning and enjoyed while still warm from the oven, I would say that they’re a perfect way to start off the morning.

Blueberry Muffins

adapted from Jim Fobel’s Old Fashioned Baking Book

makes 12 muffins

for the topping:

¼ cup flour
¼ cup sugar
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
pinch of salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

for the batter:

1 egg
½ cup yogurt (low or full fat)
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
2 cups flour
½ cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1½ cups blueberries (if using frozen, don’t thaw)

Preheat the oven to 400°. Line twelve, 2½ inch muffin cups with paper liners and set aside.

Prepare the topping in a medium size bowl. Toss the flour, sugar, cinnamon and salt together. With a fork, or your fingers, work in the butter until oatmeal-like clumps are created. The topping should resemble streusel. Set aside.

In a medium size bowl, whisk egg, yogurt, milk, vanilla, and melted butter until smooth. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Pour the yogurt mixture into the flour mixture. and stir quickly. Add the blueberries, and gently toss just until mixed. Batter will still be lumpy.

Spoon the batter equally into the muffin cups. The cups will be full. Quickly pat the topping onto the muffins.

Bake for 25-30 minutes. The tops should spring back when touched. Remove from the oven, let cool for 5 minutes, then remove from the pan. Serve warm. I like them split with a pat of butter smooshed inside.