The Thing About the Muffins

So, I have two confessions about the faux-healthy blueberry muffins. First, I decided that I liked the recipe in Joy of Cooking so much that I barely changed anything about it. And second, by the time I got around to making the muffins, I had already eaten all of the blueberries in my apartment. As a result, I made my blueberry muffins with frozen blueberries.

I know that frozen fruit is supposed to be an adequate substitute for fresh fruit. Supposedly, the fruit is frozen at the peak of freshness. But, after eating multiple pints of the fresh stuff, I have to admit that the frozen berries were kind of a letdown. Not as sweet. In fact, kind of chemical-y. Like a bad blueberry ice-pop (remember to make those next year . . . yes, a blueberry yogurt ice-pop).

The upside of making the muffins with frozen blueberries was that I avoided the dreaded bright-blue Frankenberry Muffin. I made those last year for a baby shower brunch. Thankfully, my friend was expecting a boy, so I pretended that the blue hue was simply thematic. This time around, however, there was pleasant blue studding and maybe a blue ribbon or two, but who wants to sacrifice taste for looks? Not me.

Whole-Wheat Blueberry Muffins

Follow the Joy of Cooking recipe for Blueberry Muffins using the Northern Corn Bread recipe (you know you own that kitchen bible, but if you don't, you should unless you're like a professional chef or something). The only changes I made were these:

1. In place of 3/4 cup all-purpose flour, I used 1/4 cup whole-wheat flour and 1/2 cup all-purpose flour.
2. Instead of using both milk and buttermilk, I used all whole milk.
3. I did not use any sugar to make the batter. Instead, I rolled the frozen berries in about 2 tablespoons of sugar before I added them to the mix.

Why didn't I attempt something wild and crazy? Why bother? These are good muffins people. There is a reason why the Joy of Cooking has been around for over 75-years.