"Special Occasion" Blueberry Muffins

I call these "special occasion" because they were kind of a pain to make, but definitely the best blueberry muffins I've had. We were going to buy a box mix yesterday, but I noticed it was leaking when I got to the cash register. It wasn't worth running all the way back, so I just didn't buy one. Before I went to bed I checked my email, and there was a blueberry muffin recipe from America's Test Kitchen. I happened to have all the ingredients, (except I had frozen blueberries instead of fresh) so I figured I'd give it a go this morning. They were VERY sweet! I felt kind of guilty for eating one. But Fax and the kids really loved them.

First, you need to make blueberry jam. Combine 5 oz. (1 cup) blueberries and 1 tsp. sugar in sauce pan. Bring to a boil over medium heat and boil for about 6 minutes until reduced to 1/4 cup. Set aside and bring to room temperature.

Next, you need to make lemon sugar by combining 1/3 cup sugar with the zest of half a lemon. Mix together well, and resist the temptation to eat this by the spoonful. ;) Set aside. Preheat oven to 425 F.

Now mix the dry ingredients: (In separate bowl.)
2-1/2 cups flour
2-1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt (I used a 1/2 tsp. because I used salted butter.)

Time for the wet ingredients: (In a separate bowl.)
Wisk together for about a minute,
2 eggs
1-1/8 cups sugar
Then add and mix:
4 Tbsp. butter, melted and slightly cooled
4 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1-1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup buttermilk

Combine wet and dry ingredients with blueberries and mix only until dry ingredients are wet. (If you are using frozen blueberries, dust the blueberries with a tsp of the dry mixture, and add them after you've combined the wet and dry ingredients.) DO NOT OVER MIX! THE BATTER WILL BE QUITE LUMPY. Spray muffin tin with cooking spray. (I would suggest NOT using muffin liners.) Use all the batter to fill the muffin tin. It will look really full. Then add a teaspoon of the blueberry jam to the center of each muffin and swirl with a knife. Top each with the lemon sugar. Bake for 9 minutes, rotate pan, and bake for another 9 minutes. Allow them to cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan. I had to loosen them from the pan so that they wouldn't fall apart. I used a plastic spoon for this so that I wouldn't scratch my muffin tin.

I think the next time I make these, I'll add some of the lemon juice from the lemon I zested to the blueberry jam, or possibly to the muffin batter.
P.S. If you eat more than one of these, you may need an insulin shot to compensate.

If you want to watch the video from America's Test Kitchen, click here.