Monday, February 18, 2019

Blueberry Lemon Muffins



A while back I bought a new waffle maker. I found it interesting that they recommended using a buttermilk powder in all of the waffle recipes that came with the machine. I bought Cultured Buttermilk Blend by The Saco Pantry.

I often use milk combined with vinegar as a buttermilk substitute. But how would this work? The instructions said to mix the powder with water. And in another location, they said most cooks get very good results adding the powder directly to their flour and increasing the amount of liquid accordingly. Hmm.

The buttermilk powder had been sitting in my pantry waiting for me to try it.  So when I had a yen for lemon blueberry muffins, I gave it a try. To be honest, one would have to bake one batch with the powder and one without to determine if there is a difference. But I have books to write, so I just made the one batch. And it turned out great! I think I'll be using this buttermilk powder in other recipes.

If you don't have buttermilk powder, omit it and simply add 1/2 teaspoon of white vinegar to the milk.

Blueberry Lemon Muffins
makes 12 muffins

1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter
2 cups flour
6 ounces (little flat container) fresh blueberries
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon pink sea salt
2 tablespoons buttermilk powder
2 teaspoons dried lemon peel or fresh lemon zest

1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup 2% milk

Preheat oven to 350. Place cupcake papers into cupcake baking pan.

Melt the butter and set aside to cool in a medium bowl.

Add the flour to a large bowl. Wash the blueberries. Take one tablespoon of the flour and mix it into the blueberries (so they won't sink). To the remaining flour, add the baking powder, salt, buttermilk powder, and lemon peel and mix very well.

Pour the sugar into the cooled butter and whisk. Add the two eggs and whisk well. Pour in the lemon juice and combine with the whisk. Finally add the milk and mix. Pour the butter mixture over the flour mixture. Using a large cooking spoon, stir and turn the ingredients until they are thoroughly moistened and no clumps of flour are visible. Be careful not to over-mix! Add the blueberries and stir them in. Divide the thick batter between the 12 cups. Bake 20-22 minutes until the muffins are very lightly brown on top and a cake tester comes out clean.

Lemon Sugar Glaze (optional)

3/4 cup powdered sugar
3 tablespoons lemon juice

Mix together until all sugar is dissolved. If it's too runny, add a little bit of sugar. If it's too stiff, add a little bit of lemon juice. Place muffins or rack on wax paper and pour the glaze over the muffins. To clean up, simply throw away the wax paper!

Toss blueberries with flour.

 
Mix all the dry ingredients.
Mix the wet ingredients. Such a pretty color!

Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ones.

Stir in the berries.

Bake.





Coming in paperback this month!


8 comments:

  1. I didn't know there was such a thing as buttermilk powder! It must be useful, especially if like me you buy buttermilk and it sits in the fridge for months (at least it keeps better than whole milk). What else can you do with it?

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    1. I'm not sure. I think it's mostly for baking. I'll let you know as I learn more about it.

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  2. I'm going to look for buttermilk powder. There are lots of recipes I don't make because I don't want to have to buy buttermilk or non-skim milk. Thanks! Those muffins look yummy!

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    1. I found it at my Kroger. I don't think it's hard to get.

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  3. Blueberries and lemon sounds perfect.
    I'll just stick with the vinegar milk solution. I buy too many kitchen things!

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    1. LOL! Me, too. I wavered about that new waffle maker for almost a year!

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  4. I have been using powdered buttermilk for years. I keep it in the fridge after opening it and it keeps for s long time. So convenient!!! Lemon blueberry muffins are calling to me!!

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  5. I wondered about that. It doesn't say to refrigerate it. At least I didn't see anything like that on the tub. Good to know. Thanks!

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