Breakfast, snack, brunch… muffins are always good. And at only 100 calories per muffin, these can definitely be enjoyed as a guilt free treat. I love the burst of fresh, juicy fruit alongside the deep, rich, buttery cake flavour. But what makes these blueberry mini muffins extra special? The browned butter. It adds a deepness and luxury to the cake which takes it to the next level. I am not sure if I can make anything without browning butter again!
Now. What makes a muffin a muffin and not a cupcake? They both have flour, butter and sugar right? Well yes, but what distinguishes a muffin from a cupcake for me is all about the texture. They are generally denser than a cupcake, and of course the high rise tops are signature. Cupcakes should have beautiful flat tops ready to be topped/filled/eaten straight out of the oven… but a muffin needs a good rise.
See that lumpy batter? That’s exactly what good muffin batter looks like. It needs to go into the oven ugly to come out beautiful. Check out my Raspberry and Coconut (butter free) muffins to see why! Don’t be alarmed by the lumpiness – if you over-mix muffin batter, the result is a flat cake which is far too tough. So put the spoon down a few seconds before you think it’s done, and you’ll probably find it’s perfect!
The fresh blueberries explode in the oven, staining the sponge the most vibrant shade of purple, and adding a moisture to the cake which arguably only improves the next day. These little delights can be enjoyed as they are, or with a little jam spread on as part of a brunch. They take less than 30 minutes to make from start to finish, so what are you waiting for?
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Brown Butter and Blueberry Mini Muffins
Ingredients
75g Wholewheat Flour
115g All Purpose Flour
200g Caster Sugar
1 Tbsp plus 1 Tsp Baking Powder
150ml Milk
80g Butter (Browned)
100g Fresh Blueberries
Steps
1. Brown the butter. In a shallow pan, place the butter on a low heat and melt it. Once fully melted, increase the heat to medium/high. Shortly the butter will start spitting as the water content is cooked off. Keep cooking until small brown flecks start to form on the bottom of the pan, keep stirring constantly. Once the butter has an overall golden brown look and smells nutty, take it off the heat and transfer to another container to prevent further cooking.
2. At this point, preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius, and either line a mini muffin tray with paper liners, or coat with oil. I used coconut oil as it is solid at room temperature and easy to spread around the tin.
3. In another bowl, mix together all the dry ingredients and combine thoroughly. Add the blueberries at the end and mix evenly into the flour.
4. In another bowl add all of the wet ingredients and mix thoroughly.
5. Add the wet ingredients into the dry and mix until just combined. It is very important not to over mix at this stage. If there are a few floury streaks left this is ok, as they will create even more air pockets for the muffins to rise.
6. Spoon the batter into each of the muffin cups so that they are nearly full. At this stage you can add a few more blueberries on top if you like.
7. Bake at 200 degrees Celsius for 3-4 minutes then reduce the oven temperature to 180 degrees Celsius and bake for a further 7-8 minutes until the muffins are cooked through.
8. Transfer to a cooling rack to cool fully. The muffins should slide easily out of the tray.
