The best blueberry muffin recipe?

This might just be the most delicious blueberry muffin recipe around. It's from Ottolenghi the cookbook. If you haven't seen this cookbook it is definitely worth a read. The baking section alone is fantastic but there are also lots of delicious sounding/looking vegetable, meat and fish dishes. This is the first recipe I have tried from the book and it was a difficult choice picking which one to try first. The pictures throughout the book are absolutely stunning and will have your mouth watering. My copy at the moment is from my local library but it is definitely going on my wish list of books I want to own.


I baked these the other day and they are simply delicious. They taste of blueberries, lemon and a hint of apple and they have a delicious crumble topping. Like all muffin recipes they are simple to make. The trick is to keep stirring to a minimum when mixing the wet and dry ingredients together. There should still be some unmixed lumps. The recipe says it should make 10-12 muffins. I ran out of muffin cases after making 6 and the mixture went on to make a further 18! mini muffins. I think even if I hadn't run out of muffin cases it would have made a few more than 12.

Blueberry crumble muffins
Ottolenghi the cookbook

Crumble
300g plain flour
100g caster sugar
200g cold butter, cut into small cubes

1. Put the flour, sugar and butter in a bowl and mix with your hands to work into a uniform breadcrumb consistency. Make sure there are no lumps of butter left.
2. Transfer to a plastic container. It will keep it the fridge for up to 5 days or for ages in the freezer.

Blueberry crumble muffins
Makes 10-12

540g plain flour
5 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 free-range eggs
340g caster sugar
140g unsalted butter, melted
380ml milk
grated zest of 1 lemon
1 Granny Smith apple (unpeeled), cut into 1cm dice
200g fresh blueberries, plus a few extra for the topping.
1/2 quantity of crumble

1. Preheat the oven to 170C/Gas mark 3. Line a muffin tray with paper cases.
2. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt and set aside. In a large mixing bowl, lightly whisk together the eggs, sugar and melted butter (make sure it is not too hot). Whisk in the milk and lemon zest, then gently fold in the fruit.
3. Add the sifted dry ingredients and fold together very gently. Make sure you stir just enough to combine; it should remain lumpy and rough.
4. Spoon the mixture into muffin cases to fill them up. Generously cover with the crumble topping to form small domes over the batter, then dot with a few extra blueberries. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the centre of a muffin comes out clean. Take out of the tins while still warm.

Enjoy!