Baking With Buddy: Gluten Free Blueberry Muffins

I love blueberry muffins. My mom used to make them for me as a child and I think that’s where the love affair, okay maybe slight obsession, started. There’s nothing better than a warm blueberry muffin with melted butter. Having gone gluten free a few years ago due to stomach issues, my obsession got a little harder to satisfy. I can’t just go by a bakery or the grocery store and buy blueberry muffins, at least not most of the time–I have to make my own. I will say, my husband makes some amazing muffins using organic frozen blueberries and gluten free boxed mix, but when we actually picked our own berries last month I knew I had to make muffins from scratch.
To make my muffins, I adapted a recipe from America’s Test Kitchen “How Can it Be Gluten Free Cookbook.” I switched up the ingredients a little so here’s what I used:

Ingredients

11 ounces (1 3/4 cups plus 2/3 cup ATK Gluten Free Flour Blend) I didn’t use the blend the recipe recommended. Instead, I used Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free All Purpose Flour.
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum Again, I use the Bob’s Red Mill brand of this.
5 1/4 ounces (3/4 cup) granulated sugar
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled I used organic unsalted butter.
1/2 cup plain whole-milk yogurt I substituted milk for this because I forgot to pick up yogurt at the grocery store.
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
7 1/2 ounces (1 1/2 cups) blueberries
2 tablespoons turbinado sugar I took this out completely as I couldn’t find it anywhere at the grocery store.

Instructions

1. Whisk flour blend, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and xanthan gum together in large bowl. In separate bowl, whisk granulated sugar, melted butter, MILK, eggs, and vanilla together until well combined. Using rubber spatula, stir egg mixture into flour mixture until thoroughly combined and no lumps remain, about 1 minute. (You’ll notice from the photos that I didn’t do this exactly as the recipe instructs. I actually added the first set of ingredients together in my KitchenAid mixer and then added the other ingredients to it instead of mixing them seperately.) Gently fold in blueberries until evenly distributed (batter will be thick and stiff). Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let batter rest at room temperature for 30 minutes. (Again, I didn’t do this step. Why they suggest letting it sit for 30 minutes is beyond me.)
2. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Spray 12-cup muffin tin with vegetable oil spray (I used cupcake liners. I think they make much less mess so I prefer them.) Using ice cream scoop or large spoon, portion batter evenly into prepared muffin tin. Sprinkle turbinado sugar over top. (Skipped this step as well because I didn’t have the sugar.) Bake until muffins are golden and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 16-20 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking. (Keep an eye on your muffins. Depending on your oven, they may not take long to bake.)
3. Let muffins cool in muffin tin on wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove muffins from tin and let cool for 10 minutes before serving.
   I was really pleased with how they turned out, although if I did it again, I would probably chop my blueberries up. Because they were picked right from the bush, they were a little large for the muffins. I think I would have preferred them chopped a little better than whole, which is what I did. Overall, I’ll definitely be making these again as they were very good.
   

See how that melted butter looks? Doesn’t it just make you want a blueberry muffin?

i do not own this recipe. this post merely represents my experience and take on it.