Author Notes: The Bs in these muffins are blueberry, banana, and buttermilk; they 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. —vvvanessa
Makes: 12-15 muffins
Ingredients
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3
tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
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3/4
cup sugar, preferably turbinado or other less-refined sugar
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1/4
cup light-bodied olive oil (or a neutral oil)
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1
cup buttermilk at room temperature
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2
large eggs at room temperature
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1/2
teaspoon vanilla extract
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3/4
teaspoon sea salt
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1
cup /4 1/2 ounces all-purpose flour
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1
cup /4 1/2 ounces whole wheat flour
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2
teaspoons baking powder
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3/4
teaspoon baking soda
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1/2
teaspoon ground cinnamon
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1
cup blueberries, fresh or frozen (unthawed)
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1
medium banana, ripe but not soft, cut into blueberry-sized chunks
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1/4
cup turbinado sugar
Directions
- 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 so that 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. Take care not to overcook.
- Remove from the muffins from the oven and allow them to cool for a few minutes. Finish cooling them out of the pan on a cooling rack.
- Eat them warm. With a little butter, of course.