Blueberry Muffins

Method

1. whisk2 min
   dry, in a wide bowl
   flour + sugar + baking powder + salt, thirty seconds of real whisking — baking powder that stays in a pocket makes one muffin bitter and its neighbour flat, and this is the only chance to distribute it
2. mix1 min
   reserve 1 tbsp of the dry mix
   blueberries tossed in the reserved tablespoon of flour mixture, so the dry coating grips the batter and the berries hang suspended instead of sinking to the paper and bleeding purple
3. whisk2 min
   melted butter cooled to lukewarm
   egg + milk + melted butter + vanilla (+ lemon zest, + sour cream) — if the butter is hot it scrambles the egg into threads; if the milk is fridge-cold the butter seizes into shot
4. fold1 min
   by hand, 10–12 strokes
   dry + wet + floured blueberries, stopping while streaks of flour are still visible. Every stroke past that builds gluten, and gluten in a muffin shows up as long vertical tunnels and a rubbery chew
5. rest15 min
   covered, room temperature
   batter, so the flour hydrates and thickens — a slack batter lets the berries drift down during the first minutes of baking, before the crumb sets
6. top3 min
   6 wells of a 12-cup tin, papers or greased
   batter divided into six, filled level with the rim rather than two-thirds — the overfill is what gives the mushroom top (+ coarse sugar + cinnamon scattered over). Add 1 tbsp water to each empty well
7. bake8 min
   425°F / 220°C
   muffins, hot and fast, so steam inflates the batter and the outer edge sets into a wall that the centre then pushes up against
8. bake13 min
   reduce to 375°F / 190°C
   muffins, until the domes spring back and a skewer in the centre — not through a berry, which reads wet no matter what — comes out clean
9. rest5 min
   in the tin, then on a rack
   muffins five minutes in the tin to firm the base, then out — left in, the trapped steam condenses and the bottoms turn to wet paper