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Better Best Blueberry (and Raspberry) Muffins
This blueberry-and-raspberry muffin recipe is, in my humble opinion, a better adaptation of the best blueberry muffin recipe from a battle in the 1980s. It uses sourdough discard for a bit of tang and Breadtopia’s bolted all purpose flour, which is made from fresh-milled hard red winter wheat berries and then sifted to remove some of the bran and leave a very fluffy light final baking texture. I also included what I felt were the most appealing suggestions from the battle-winning recipe’s comments section: lemon zest and less sugar.
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The battle I’m referring to happened when food writer Marian Burros wrote in the New York Times that the best blueberry muffins were from the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Boston. A reader refuted this claim and sent in what she and others deemed was the best recipe, from a New England department store chain, Jordan Marsh. The chain closed its doors in 1996, after about 150 years in business.
The Jordan Marsh muffins were known for being moist and cake-like. My recipe builds on those qualities and adds more fiber, nutrients, and a hint of light wheat flavor because the bolted flour is partway between refined and whole wheat flour. The lemon zest gives the muffins a fresh citrus aroma, and the sourdough discard adds a very slight tang. These muffins are a touch less sweet than most because of a 20% reduction in sugar, from 250g down to 200g. (The sugar-to-flour ratio is 66%, including the flour in the sourdough starter, while many blueberry muffin recipes are up around 77%.) Finally, swapping raspberries for half the blueberries adds a delicious tart punch if you’re into that sort thing. Trust me, you want the raspberry punch.
Recipe Notes
If you don’t have sourdough discard, you can replace it with 50g water and 50g flour.
If swapping out berries, go with volume rather than weight. Raspberries are much lighter in weight than blueberries, and you want roughly the same volume distribution of berry.
The batter is relatively thick (see photo below for a sense of the texture) and I didn’t have any problem with the berries sinking to the bottom of the muffins while baking. If you’re concerned or your batter seems thinner than mine, toss the blueberries in additional flour before mixing them into the batter to prevent them from sinking. Don’t bother doing that with the raspberries, as they don’t sink.
I repeatedly measured 1 cup of bolted all purpose flour as 140-145 grams. The recipe below uses 280g flour as 2 cups, but other flours will likely only weigh 260g for 2 cups. Therefore, if you want similar batter hydration, if substituting in refined (white) AP flour, use 280g; and if substituting in a whole grain flour, use 260g.
With this batter, I made 16 medium-height muffins using two cupcake pans (the second pan containing only four muffins). There was no overflow with this much batter, and I plan to put all the batter into one 12-cupcake pan next time for even taller muffins. You can also bake this batter as a quick bread in a medium or large loaf pan at 350°F for 60-70 minutes. Cover with foil if the loaf browns too quickly, and test doneness by poking with a toothpick to see if it comes out clean.
Better Best Blueberry (and Raspberry) Muffins
These blueberry-and-raspberry muffins are mini cakes of flavor explosion and fantastic texture. The different components -- high extraction flour, sourdough discard, lemon zest, sweet blueberries, and tart raspberries -- all come together perfectly into a moist and delicious treat.
Ingredients
Instructions
Shopping List
All Purpose High Extraction Flour
$9.60 – $68.35Sourdough Starter (Live)
Bosch Universal Plus Mixer with Stainless Steel Bowl — Black
$469.00Stainless Steel 4 Pc Measuring Cup Set
$22.00Magnetic Measuring Spoons
$17.00USA Pan 12 Cup Cupcake & Muffin Pan
American Made Bread Loaf Pan from USA Pan
USA Pan Half Sheet Cooling Rack
$16.99Better Best Blueberry (and Raspberry) Muffins