Blueberry Muffin Recipe

Today we’re taking you back to summer with our Blueberry Muffin recipe. What?? Blueberries in December? Isn’t “seasonal ingredients” one of your values? It is, thanks for noticing! 😊 That’s why we thought we’d take this opportunity to firstly, share this awesome recipe with you and secondly, to drop some knowledge. Read on to learn how you can enjoy off-season fruits without sacrificing nutrition or promoting unsustainable harvesting and transportation practices.

So, the secret: frozen blueberries work just as well as fresh ones in this recipe! Using frozen blueberries means you can enjoy summer berries all year around and contrary to popular opinion, frozen does not mean a loss of taste or nutrition. In fact, frozen fruits have equal, or even higher, levels of nutrition as fresh fruits.

How can that be? Well, unless you are buying your fruit at the farmers’ market, “fresh” is often not that fresh. Most likely the fruit for sale at your local grocery store was harvested before it was fully ripe and has already spent several days to a week in transportation and storage – all the while, losing nutritional value. Frozen fruit on the other hand, is harvested when it is at the peak ripeness, which is also when it is the most nutrient dense, and flash frozen within hours of being harvested. This quick turnaround enables the fruit to be preserved exactly as it was picked and therefore, retain its nutrients.

Another benefit to using frozen fruit is less food wastage. Frozen fruit doesn’t spoil and can be used – or not – whenever you want it. You never need to worry about it going bad if you don’t use it right away!

Ok ok, enough knowledge dropped 😊 time for the recipe! Happy baking! (We’ve linked a few articles at the bottom if you’re interested in the topic + we will share more on our view with our next Behind the Business blog on Monday!)

Blueberry Muffin Recipe

Makes 12 large muffins

Ingredients:

• 3c + 2tbsp / 420g flour
• Pinch of salt
• 1 tbsp / 1 EL baking powder
• 1 ¼ c / 150g white sugar
• 1/3 + 1tbsp c / 85g butter, softened at room temperature
• 1 tsp / 1 TL vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1 c / 240ml milk
• 2 c / 380g blueberries – frozen or fresh
  • Pro tip: when using frozen berries, take them out of the freezer ~3 hours in advance. Place them in a sieve over a bowl to defrost. Conserve the melted juice which collects in the bowl, you’ll need this later!
• Cinnamon sugar topping: 2 tbsp / EL sugar + 1 tsp / TL cinnamon

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 190°C and line your muffin pan with muffins tins.
2. Mix the cinnamon sugar topping and set aside.
3. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
4. Mix butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, mixing in between each addition. Add vanilla.
5. Alternately mix in the flour mixture and milk. Start and end with the flour mix.
   1. Pro tip: Now is where you need that preserved blueberry juice! Mix half of it in with one of your milk additions. If you use fresh berries, mash a quarter of them and mix the mash ones in now.
6. Fold in the blueberries by hand.
7. Divide batter evenly between muffin tins. Each tin should be about ¾ full. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar topping over each.
8. Bake for 30 minutes or until top is golden.

Post a pic and tag us @nickxfritz_munich with your version! Happy Baking!

Every Thursday we post a new recipe! Check back in next week for the latest!

Links for further information on frozen versus fresh:

• BBC Good Food
• Healthline
• CCN article including tips on using frozen fruit and vegetables