by vvvanessa
These (almost) alliterative muffins have everything I like in my breakfast bread: subtle sweetness, a sturdy but tender crumb, chunks of moist fruit, whole grains, a little bit of spice. This recipe makes 12 muffins in my standard muffin pan, which means there's leftover batter, so I just pour it into a greased mini-loaf pan and bake it alongside the tin. Sometimes I'll throw in some finely grated lemon or orange zest, a handful of toasted almonds or walnuts, or freshly grated ginger or nutmeg. Or, if I'm not getting enough butter in my diet, I'll use 1/4 cup melted, cooled, unsalted butter in place of the oil. Not getting enough butter in my diet? Ha! Not likely! But I might go ahead and make the substitution anyway.
Serves 12-15
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
- 3/4 cups sugar, preferably turbinado or other less-refined sugar
- 1/4 cup canola or light-bodied olive oil
- 1 cup buttermilk at room temperature
- 2 large eggs at room temperature
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3/4 teaspoons sea salt
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen (unthawed)
- 1 medium banana, ripe but not soft, cut into blueberry-sized chunks
- 1/4 cup turbinado sugar
- Preheat oven to 350ºF. Generously butter the wells of a 12-cup muffin pan. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, oil, buttermilk, eggs, vanilla, and salt until well combined. Set aside.
- In another bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon.
- Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture. Fold/mix gently until there are still some large patches of dry mix are still visible.
- Scatter the blueberries and banana over the top of the batter. Continue to fold gently until ingredients are just combined, taking care not to overmix the batter.
- Divide batter evenly among the muffin cups, filling them to the top. Sprinkle a single layer of turbinado sugar over the surface of each muffin.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, rotating the pan after 10 minutes. The muffins are ready when the tops are firm and golden and a cake tester tests clean. Do not overcook.
- Remove from them from the oven and allow them to cool for a few minutes. Allow the muffins to finish cooling out of the pan on a cooling rack.
- Eat them warm. With a little butter, of course.