Blueberry Muffins

Ingredients & Instructions

• 1 ½ cups all purpose flour

• ¾ cup granulated sugar (plus 1 tbs for muffin tops)

• ¼ tsp fine sea salt

• 2 teaspoons baking powder

• ⅓ cup natural oil

• 1 large egg

• ⅓ - ½ cup milk

• 1 ½ vanilla extract (or almond extract - my preference)

• 6-8 oz fresh/frozen blueberries - about 1 cup. If frozen, add to batter while frozen.

1. Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.

2. Add oil to 1 cup measure and then add in egg. Pour in the milk to bring wet ingredients to 1 cup line. Add extract of your choice.

3. Add milk mixture to dry ingredients. Use a fork to combine. Do not overmix. Batter should be thick and not runny.

4. Divide batter between paper lined muffin cups. For big-topped muffins, fill batter to tops of paper liners. For other sizes ¾ full. For any empty muffin cups add 2 tbs of water to help muffins bake evenly.

5. Sprinkle remaining sugar on tops of muffins before baking for a nice crunch. I also like to add slivered almond slices if using the almond extract for flavoring.

6. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bake 15-20 minutes until top is golden brown and toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean. Mini muffins bake for less time, about 9-11 minutes.

I love eating the muffins, split open with cut sides grilled to golden perfection and topped with a copious amount of butter. Now that is the way to start a Maine morning!