Life has been a bit crazy for the last two weeks, so I haven't had much time to bake. But today with some beautiful much needed rain falling and I bit of a respite from the heat, this uncomplicated quick Blueberry muffin loaf was the perfect thing to make. It is moist and tangy, and it literally falls apart with softness. Make it as a loaf or in muffin cases, but either way you are going to be hooked, its great for breakfast, tea or an afternoon snack. Pack it full of plump blueberries to give your day a powerful antioxidant boost.
I'm crazy about this recipe - the smell, the taste, the colour, its all too delicious for words, or maybe it's because I can't get enough of berries that I love it so much.
If I can't get fresh berries, the next best thing is frozen to put them into my baking. If you live in South Africa, Food Lover's Market sell THE best frozen berries. Each berry is frozen perfectly and they are packaged in tubs to protect them from being squashed, which is great because you can pick out the exact number you need. Other suppliers seem to throw them into packets and half the berries are mushed, and the other half frozen to each other ( my pet hate).
I captured these gorgeous blueberries growing in pots at the OC County Fair. How beautiful are they. I would love to have a bush growing in my garden, but am not sure whether they even grow in my climate. Anybody out there know anything about blueberry cultivation?
TIPS
- The trick to keeping your blueberries whole and not juicing out into your muffin or loaf, is to add them frozen to your mix. They must be lightly folded in to keep them whole and this way you are assured of a great bake with whole berries, instead of a mushy purple muffin.
- Make sure your loaf tin is greased and lined with paper and is 100% cool before taking it out of the loaf tin as this is an extremely soft textured loaf.
- If you are making this in muffin cases, make sure to spray the case with a cooking spray.
- Cooking time for muffins 30-40 minutes at 175ºC
Blueberry Muffin Loaf or Muffins
- 115g butter, softened
- ¾ cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 2 tsp vanilla essence
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ cup buttermilk
- 1½ cups frozen blueberries
- Preheat your oven to 175ºC/350ºF .
- Grease an 8 x 4 loaf tin with butter and then sprinkle sugar inside.
- Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Beat in the egg and vanilla essence.
- Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a separate bowl.
- Add the flour mix alternatively with the buttermilk in small amounts at a time, starting with flour and ending with the buttermilk.
- Fold in the frozen blueberries (do not defrost them)
- Bake for 50 -60 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the centre.
- (If you are making this in muffin cases, spray the cases with cooking spray and cook for 30-40 minutes)
- Cool on a wire rack.
