On Muffins

Of the blueberry variety, specifically.

Happy Friday! This is the weekly recipe post for paid subscribers, and it is one of my favorite summer bakes. On Tuesday, all readers will receive a fantastic interview with Palita of Pink Salt Kitchens. Next Friday, paid subscribers will receive a recipe for the brownies that made me lifelong friends. There is a hard stop ahead, which sucks, but hey: it’s this or endless ads on a website, so here we are!

It is, by now, no secret that I crave recipes that transport me somewhere—whether to a place or a moment in time, this is how I determine the worthiness of something I’ve cooked.

Growing up, we spent a lot of time at my grandparents’ lake house, where, though there was no AC, the oven and stove were on almost all the time in the summer. I’ve written about all of the wonderful things we ate there in this post about nostalgic foods, and today, I’m going to share my riff on one of the breakfast essentials: blueberry muffins.

I am not a breakfast person. It’s usually 10:30am before I can stomach the thought of food, and even then, I only want a small bite of something sweet to tide me over until lunch. As a kid, these blueberry muffins did the trick, especially on the heels of a nice, healthy bowl of Golden Grahams or Honeycombs (my appetite—and sweet tooth—was bigger then). My grandma would bake them fresh, sure, but they were just as perfect when we grabbed them out of a gallon-sized freezer baggie in the fridge. Blueberry muffins in hand, off we went, riding into the sunrise for another day of excitement.

These muffins are decidedly not too sweet, which is a rare thing in the family canon. I love the approachable balance of this batter, and I love, love, LOVE the way it plays with a little bit of razzle-dazzle* tossed in. I’ve also made this recipe with pancake mix—just omit the dry ingredients, add the seeds, oil, milk, and egg, and call it a day. You do you! I’m just happy you’re cooking.

No matter how you mix your batter, though, it’s the way that the hot blueberries taste when you bite into a not-quite-cool muffin that takes me back to the kitchen in the lake house. If you must use other small berries (raspberries, blackberries) you may, but really, blueberries are the star here.

*fennel or caraway seeds + jazz hands

Blueberry Razzle-Dazzle Muffins

Yes, I serve these with butter. Don’t judge me!