Best Ever Blueberry Muffins

I'm getting ready for a play date this afternoon. My 4-year-old daughter's favorite friend from school is coming over and it's a BIG DEAL. Let's just say she's borderline obsessed with her. She's been begging to have this lovely little girl come over for weeks now and has been on the verge of exploding with excitement ever since I told her a couple days ago that it was was going to finally happen. 

I am baking the girls some blueberry muffins. I found this recipe on the web. Hopefully they will turn out good and I won't embarrass my daughter. Haha!

UPDATE: So the muffins turned out great! Absolutely delicious. The play date was a success as well. My daughter's friend does not like blueberries. Doh!

Best Ever Blueberry Muffins

Makes 12-16 standard size muffins  

Adapted by Foodism Mom from a recipe by Mary Hunt of Everyday Cheapskate


Muffins
8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick), softened to room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
2 extra-large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup plain almond milk (or regular milk)
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups blueberries (fresh or frozen)

Topping
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375F.

Prepare a 12-cup muffin pan by spraying well with baking spray or line each cup with a cupcake liner.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.  Using a fork, mash 1/2 cup of blueberries; set aside. In a small bowl, mix together 1 tablespoon granulated sugar and nutmeg; set aside.

Using a hand mixer, cream butter and 1 cup sugar together in a medium bowl until creamy and light in color; add eggs, vanilla, and 1/2 cup of mashed blueberries.  Add 1/2 of the flour mixture; mix just until the dry ingredients are incorporated.  Add 1/2 of the milk and mix just until combined. Repeat with the remaining flour mixture, followed by the remaining milk. Fold in the remaining whole blueberries. Portion batter evenly into muffin cups and sprinkle with sugar/cinnamon topping. Bake 25-30 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.

Mary's Note:  Mary says you can freeze the muffins for up to two months before baking - portion the batter into foil-lined muffin pan and place in the freezer until the batter is firm, then pop the frozen muffins out of the pan and store in a freezer-safe container.  When you want freshly baked muffins, simply pop the frozen batter-filled foil cups back into a muffin pan and bake as directed; adding 5-6 minutes to the total baking time.