Cinnamon Blueberry Muffins

I have been searching for a good blueberry muffin recipe for about 3 months. I have tried 4 or 5 different recipes, all of which seemed to be lacking something – flavor, moisture, crumb, originality; I’m not quite sure. We have a cafe on the bottom floor of our office building – Au Bon Pain – that has these incredible blueberry muffins. Each time I buy one I make an attempt to figure out what their secret ingredient is. Maybe there is coconut oil? or vanilla? or yogurt? or maybe sour cream? a different spice? I wish I knew.

Even as much as I love breakfast and breakfast foods, I refuse to get up early enough to eat it at home. I often will opt to stop at ABP on my way up to work, or go down the street to Flour [and if you live in the Boston area and you havent been there, you should. trust me - their sticky buns are famous. Bobby Flay did a "throw down" with them a while back, I'm not sure who won - I think Flour, or at least I hope so] But again, I’m spending too much money. My goal right now is to make a baked good and bring it into the office on Monday to last me through the week. I need to stop spending $3 on a muffin every day.

This recipe isn’t what I was looking for; however, it was quite the pleasant surprise. I underestimated how much the cinnamon flavor would shine through – I thought maybe it would be a secondary flavor, but its definitely not. The blueberries are the secondary flavor in these muffins. If you like cinnamon and you like blueberries, then this is perfect for you. These are light and moist (does anyone else strongly dislike that word? because I cant stand it, but I cant think of a better alternative) and the blueberries are swaddled nicely with cinnamon and sugar.

Cinnamon Blueberry Muffins
adapted from Gourmet

6 tbs unsalted butter, room temperature
1 c light brown sugar
1/2 c whole milk
1 large egg
1 1/2 c flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 package of blueberries (7 oz)

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Lightly oil muffin tins or put liners in the cups.
2. In a stand mixer add butter, brown sugar, milk, and egg in a bowl. Wisk on medium-low until fully incorporated.
3. In a separate large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, vanilla and salt. Add to wet mixture and mix on low speed until just combined.
4. Remove bowl from stand mixter and gently fold the blueberries in.
5. Equally divide the batter among the muffin cups and bake for 20-25 minutes. They are done when a toothpick

Fun fact: if you dont have toothpicks on hand, you can use an uncooked spaghetti noodle instead!

Oh, and you don’t need a stand mixer to make these. I just happen to be in love with my new KitchenAid and will take any excuse to use it.

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