On a non-cooking note, I’m just going to start out by saying I jinxed myself.

For those of you that are following our semi kitchen remodel, I posted on Monday that our new countertops would be coming on Friday.  Literally 20 minutes later, Hubs received a phone call that the materials wouldn’t be ready on Friday…so we’re now planning on Tuesday next week (and yes, I know I’m probably jinxing myself again by sharing this).

So we’re still cooking/baking in a bit of a mess, but I’m getting pretty used to it by now.

Now back to our regularly scheduled programming…

This week is my oldest’s week to bring snack for preschool.  After last time’s cupcake fun, he insisted on making something else for his friends.  We decided on muffins – and I let him choose the flavor.  Who knew he’d go for lemon?

The Recipe:

Lemon Blueberry Muffins, adapted from allrecipes.com

(This makes 12 muffins.  I doubled it to make 24.)

1 3/4 c flour

3/4 c sugar

1 T grated lemon peel

1 t baking powder

3/4 t baking soda

1/4 t salt

1 egg

1 c plain yogurt

6 T butter or margarine, melted

1 T lemon juice

1 c fresh blueberries

In a large bowl, combine the first six dry ingredients.  In another bowl, beat the egg, yogurt, butter and lemon juice.  Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened.

In third bowl, roll washed and dried blueberries in flour (this prevents them from settling at the bottom of the muffins).  Add to the rest of the batter.

Fill greased muffin cups two-thirds full.  Bake at 350 degrees for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Cool for 5 minutes in muffin pan then carefully remove by sliding a butter knife around sides and popping them out.  Finish cooling on wire rack.

{Printable Recipe}

The Results:

My oldest was so excited to be back in the kitchen again – and, since the little one was napping, he had free reign over the kitchen and all ingredients/gadgets.

I just love how proud he is to be helping (and I’m sure everyone at school got to hear how he made the muffins himself).  After mixing up everything and ladling the batter into the pan, we dropped a couple extra blueberries on top of each muffin to make them extra-blueberry-y.  When they came out of the oven, the extra ooze was obvious.

These muffins definitely passed the test with the preschooler crowd – if the almost empty container was any indication.  My oldest adored them and has had several in addition to the one at school.

I thought they were really good – but I have to tell you, I dialed back the lemon flavor just in case it would be too much for some of the kiddos.  If I were making these just for my family, I probably would’ve doubled the lemon zest/juice – and may have even used lemon yogurt.  There is a definite light lemon flavor, but it can get lost in bites with extra blueberry.  I really enjoyed the lemon/blueberry combination, though, and look forward to exploring it again in the near future.

What really made these great, in my opinion, was the texture.  The yogurt made them extra moist without making them heavy at all.  And the bursts of blueberry goodness was simply a treat for the senses.

This is definitely a recipe I will be making again.

(Hopefully on my new countertops!    )

Tagged: breakfast, fruit, kids, muffin, recipe