It seems that every week I go to the farmers market I buy way too much fruit! Everything looks so inviting this time of year and I tend to be an impulse shopper anyway (according to my husband, at least); needless to say I end up having to find creative ways to use this summer’s bounty. I have been extremely spoiled this summer as my husband has been making me blueberry waffles every Sunday morning, but I was in the mood to try something new this past weekend.
I have a confession: I am not good at following recipes. On a very rare occasion I follow a recipe as it is written, but most of the time I use them as a foundation and customize it to my taste. Therefore, when I sought out inspiration for these blueberry muffins I let my imagination wander: what if I added vanilla extract? what if I used whole wheat flour? what if…
In the end, this recipe far surpassed my expectations, and I will admit I ate one immediately as they came out of the oven (they just smelled so good). I intended them to be a quick breakfast for this week, but they were completely gone by dinnertime on Tuesday. If you have more self control than I do, they would make an excellent breakfast because they contain whole grain flour, oats, yogurt, and fresh blueberries.
Ingredients:
- 5 tablespoons butter, softened
- 1/2 c. sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 3/4 c. low-fat vanilla Greek yogurt (I like Trader Joe’s brand)
- 1 c. all purpose flour
- 1/2 c. whole wheat flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 3/4 c. oats
- 1 c. fresh blueberries (you can use frozen, but mix carefully to avoid purple batter)
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a muffin pan with 12 paper liners. Beat the butter and the sugar together until it becomes pale yellow in color and fluffy. Add egg, vanilla, and cinnamon; mix well. Add Greek yogurt; scrape down the sides of the bowl to make sure everything is well combined. Add both types of flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda; use a spoon to fold dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. (The dough will begin to get thick). Add oats and fold these in. Lastly, add the blueberries and very gently combine them with the other ingredients so their skins do not break open.
Tip: Use an ice cream scoop; I like the miniature scoop size, to place the batter in the muffin tins. This ensures that you get the same amount of dough in each muffin cup so they cook evenly.
Place in the oven and bake for 18-20 minutes until the tops begin to look golden brown.
My dog must have thought the muffins smelled good too!
As mentioned earlier, these muffins are amazingly soft and flavorful still warm from the oven. Store the leftover muffins in an airtight container on the counter. This recipe could easily be doubled (note to self to do this next time). Enjoy!
freshpickedlove 