Bingeing on blueberries

I took Isaac to a pick-your-own blueberry farm this weekend. It was about an hour's drive out of Wellington, and it was gorgeous. We walked from a bushy hillside down to a grassy clearing where a small stream lazily babbled its way through the property. Birds were chirping, bees were humming - could this place be any more idyllic? In a word, no. It was so lovely there, in fact, that I've already planned to buy the farm from its current owner when I'm ready to retire. If she won't sell, I'm just going to have to plan a hostile takeover.



Bucket full of delicious blueberries, I set off for home, my mind near the point of exploding with the possibilities of 2 1/2 pounds of blueberries. I normally can't stand cooked fruit, especially berries. I feel like they are such a precious commodity that to cook them only adulterates their pure flavor and texture. Then again, 2 1/2 pounds is a lot of blueberries. Blueberry pie was the most obvious way to use up so many yummy berries, but we're set to go out of town in a day, and pie doesn't travel well. Sadly. So, I'll just have to make blueberry muffins with some of them and eat the rest by hand.



I love muffins. I love that my son eats them when he won't eat anything else. I love that they're excellent road food. And I love this recipe I found in Gourmet. It's tender, it's sweet but not too sweet, it looks gorgeous, and it's bursting with blueberries.



Blueberry Muffins
adapted from Gourmet, Sept. 2003

Muffins:
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/3 c. buttermilk (or whole milk)
1 whole egg, plus 1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
3/4 c. sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 c. fresh blueberries

Topping:
3 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2" cubes
1/2 c. flour
1/4 c. sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

To make muffins: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line or grease a 12-cup muffin tin. Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together melted butter and buttermilk, then add eggs and vanilla, mixing thoroughly. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, mixing just until combined. Gently fold in blueberries. Divide batter evenly between 12 cups. Set aside.

To make topping: In a bowl, rub together the butter, flour, sugar, and cinnamon until mixture resembles coarse meal. Sprinkle topping evenly over batter in cups, pressing down gently to adhere.

Bake muffins until tops are golden, about 18-20 minutes. Cool on rack 10 minutes, then remove muffins from tin to finish cooling on rack.