Blueberry Muffins- that taste just right

The only place that I've had blueberry muffins is at a buffet restaurant called Fresh Choice. I've loved them, but have always been wary of what kind of stuff is in them. As in, how much butter or sugar? Also, are the blueberries fresh? Not that I'm averse to frozen fruit, I just want to know what makes a honest blueberry muffin. When I came across this recipe on Smitten Kitchen, I was a little surprised as to how simply it all looked. I had to give this a try, and I ended up making in the night before I left home. A perfect ending to my spring break, I believe. Although this recipe yielded only 10 muffins, it was just right for our household because my family isn't big on sweets. What's more is that these muffins had the perfect balance of sugar and lemon zest. If you're looking for a muffin to satisfy your huge sweet tooth, this muffin is not it. As I ate the muffin, I tasted the light sweetness as well as the alternating slight zing from the lemon zest. About the lemon zest: I have never zested (verb spelling?) a lemon or orange before because I do not have a zester, and I thought that if I used a vegetable peeler, I would not get a thin enough peel and therefore end up getting the bitter white stuff that lies right below the surface of the peel. But I decided to try anyway because I thought it was about time I experimented with it. Applying real gentle pressure on the lemon, I proceeded to shave off the skin. To my delight, I had shaved off just the top layer of the skin! As a plus, I could smell the amazing lemon oils that were released as I kept peeling. I had to roughly chop up these peels because they would not be too appealing as huge chunks in the muffins. As I finished mixing the batter (I also used a full fat Greek yogurt- just phenomenal, but gotta try with sour cream next time!), I decided to taste it. Ahh what IS it with uncooked muffin batters tasting so amazing?! I was excited to see how they would turn out, so I quickly lined my trusty Wilton cupcake pan and used an ice cream scoop to dollop the batter into the cups. I was tempted to add brown sugar on top, but I decided the alteration could wait after I had tasted the original recipe. 22 minutes later, they muffins were all puffy and the perfect golden brown. I decided to take the out 3 minutes earlier than the advised 25 minute time because I think that my oven is very powerful and I wanted the cupcakes to retain a little moisture. I let them cool and I absolutely LOVED the blueberries that had burst in the batter and created a bloody purple smear on the side of the paper cups. So if you're going to make blueberry muffins, make these, you will NOT be disappointed! The recipe is on smittenkitchen.com

xoxo

New Obsession: Smitten Kitchen

I absolutely LOVEthis website: www.smittenkitchen.com

It's written by this adorable

lady named Deb, and she is my idol, I guess I could say. Her website is filled with amazing photos of her food, and great, witty entries. She's even coming out with a cookbook in 2012! Can't wait...I 'd love to buy one. In honor of Smitten Kitchen, I'd like to share one of her recipes that I recently tried out: Whole Wheat Apple Muffins! Okay, they weren't all whole wheat, let me rectify: Half whole wheat apple muffins. There was equal parts whole wheat and regular white flour. These are also healthy- only half a cup of butter for 17 muffins! The best part on these was the crust that the brown sugar formed on the top, and I was generous with it, as you can tell from the pictures! I used two large Fuji apples that were lying around the house, and they were really delicious in it, though I'm pretty sure you can use any kind of apple you have or prefer. This recipe called for one heaping tablespoon for cinnamon. Now this seems like a lot, and I feel like it is. But maybe with apple recipes you need that much? Surprisingly there was not any vanilla in the recipe, and I think that I'd like to really try adding some next time. Usually when I bake, I do add vanilla to practically everything. These muffins were so easy, and the only thing that took time was bringing the butter to room temperature!