Fluffy Blueberry Jam Swirled Muffins
Oh hello, blueberry muffins of the century.
Well, okay, maybe I take that back. Because these blueberry jam swirled muffins don't have a crumble atop them. And a crumb topping is everything. So let's call these the blueberry muffins of the decade then.
These fluffy muffins have alllllll the blueberries in them. They're double blueberry muffins. Because aside from a hefty amount of fresh blueberries mixed into the batter, there's also a blueberry jam that gets swirled into each muffin before baking. Just to take things to the next blueberry muffin level.
And I'm not referring to blueberry jam from a jar that you purchased in the grocery store. I'm talking about a homemade blueberry jam. Wait, don't exit the page yet. Let me explain.
Yes, you're making your own blueberry jam for these blueberry muffins. And that might sound like a lot of unnecessary work. But it's not.
Here's how you make homemade blueberry jam: place blueberries along with a sprinkling of sugar into a pot. Cook the blueberries for five minutes, until they boil down into a thick blue mush. A thick blue mush otherwise known as blueberry jam.
And now you've got a (small) pot full of blueberry jam. Made in five minutes. All by yourself. Awesome sauce. Literally.
Now, moving on from the homemade, 5-minute blueberry jam onto the actual muffin batter.
These blueberry muffins are soft, tender, and fluffy. The combination of both butter and oil helps give these muffins the ideal trade-off of taste and texture. As in, these muffins are buttery, but also light and not too dense. And not too buttery.
These jam swirled muffins are also bursting with fresh blueberries. Over a cup of them.
AND. In addition to the fluffy and soft interior, these blueberry muffins have those slightly crispy muffin tops that everyone goes crazy for.
Oh. And these muffins have just the right amount of sweetness. Just two-thirds of a cup of sugar is in the whole recipe. Ensuring that these muffins aren't cloyingly sweet. We've got the blueberries and blueberry jam to take care of the rest of the necessary sweetness.
Basically, what I'm saying is, these are perfect blueberry muffins. Well, almost perfect. Cuz, like I said, they don't have a crumble. Ugh. I should have made a crumble.
Too late now. Anyway.
Soft and fluffy. Tender and light. Sweet and tart. Buttery with a hint of lemon flavor. Bursting with fresh, juicy blueberries and swirled with a homemade blueberry jam.
Pour yourself a tall glass of cold milk. Because you'll want some to accompany these fluffy blueberry jam swirled muffins. Because you're making these fluffy blueberry jam swirled muffins, right?
Fluffy Blueberry Jam Swirled Muffins
Yield: 12 muffins
1 cup blueberries
1 teaspoon granulated sugar (or 2 teaspoons if blueberries are tart)
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1 stick (4 oz.) butter, softened
¼ cup oil
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Zest of ½ a lemon
1 ¾ cups packed flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup sour cream
½ cup milk
1 ¼ cups fresh blueberries
1. Preheat oven to 375 F. Line or grease 12 muffins molds.
2. In a small pot, stir together the 1 cup blueberries and teaspoon sugar over a medium flame, mashing the blueberries down as you stir. After about five minutes, mixture should be a thick mush/jam. Remove pot from flame and let cool.
3. Using an electric mixer, cream together the butter, oil, and sugar for a few minutes until mixture is light and fluffy. Add in the eggs, vanilla extract, and lemon zest and cream mixture for a few more minutes, until fluffy and smooth again.
4. In a small bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt. In another small bowl (or in a measuring cup), combine the sour cream and milk.
5. With machine running on low, alternate adding in the flour mixture, then the sour cream mixture, starting and ending with the flour mixture. Don’t over mix! Stir in blueberries gently by hand last.
6. Using a large cookie scoop, drop batter evenly into prepared molds. Drop a teaspoon of the blueberry jam on top of each muffin, and then swirl together the jam and muffin batter with a knife or toothpick.
7. Bake muffins for 20-28 minutes (depending on muffin size and depth), until muffin springs back when touched and a toothpick inserted into the center of one comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs. Don’t over bake.
