I love blueberries.  They are little warm explodey balls of scalding hot tastiness juice (assuming, of course, you’ve just cooked them in something, which is the point of blueberries after all).  I also love muffins; they’re the perfect size for snacks, they’re just sweet enough to sub in for a dessert in a pinch, and you can make them in pretty paper cups that make cleanup a lot easier.

I don’t know if there’s really a story behind these muffins in particular; the first muffins I made, I was still in the habit of sticking to the exact amounts of the glutinous recipe I was adapting from, and using truly generous amounts of xanthan gum out of some sort of fear that if I didn’t provide enough superglue, the end result would fall apart in my hands, in keeping with its true nature as a desperately fabricated objection to the laws of physics.  I was still making imitations of food, not food itself.  But anyway.  The end result was muffins that were absolutely delicious and muffiny, for about the first thirty seconds, after which they were instantly transformed into rocks.  I took the second batch of them to Jocelyn’s then-nearby apartment nearly at a dead run, knowing she couldn’t assess how they were fresh if I went at a leisurely stroll.

It’s months later now, and these muffins are much, MUCH better:  They’re light and tasty, and they last for days and days while staying light and tasty.  (Longevity is a crucial aspect to real food I often find lacking in prepackaged GF products.  Along with, y’know, taste.)  The only reason my taste-testers didn’t all swear to God they would never have known the muffins were GF is that one of them observed my muffins were less crumbly than normal muffins.  He thought this was great, mind you, because the one thing he always disliked about muffins was how they got crumbs everywhere.  Woot.

These are easy to make; I tend to buy frozen blueberries in large quantities, chuck them in the chest freezer, and then chuck the blueberries in things like muffins whenever I want blueberries.  But now, on to the recipe!  (Scroll down for a version with pictures after the printer-friendly version.)

Blueberry Muffins

Yield:  12 muffins

Ingredients:

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
  2. In large mixing bowl, combine dough mix, xanthan gum, sugar, baking powder, and salt; mix well.
  3. Add egg, milk, oil, and lemon juice; blend thoroughly.  The batter will be very thin.
  4. Fold in blueberries by hand until evenly mixed.  (They’ll settle down to the bottom over time, since the batter is so thin.)
  5. Lightly grease a 12-cup muffin pan, or use paper muffin cups.  Distribute the batter equally among the 12 cups, filling each about 2/3 full.
  6. Bake muffins for 15-20 minutes, or until golden-brown.  Let cool 10 minutes before removing from pan, especially if you aren’t using paper cups.  They’re best fresh, of course, but they’ll keep just fine for later and reheat very well, too.

And here’s a version with pictures:

Blueberry Muffins

Yield:  12 muffins

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 cups dough mix
  • 1/8 tsp xanthan gum
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 egg
  • 3/4 cup milk
  • 1/3 cup oil
  • 1 T lemon juice
  • 1/2 cup frozen blueberries

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2.  In large mixing bowl, combine dough mix, xanthan gum, sugar, baking powder, and salt; mix well.
3.  Add egg, milk, oil, and lemon juice; blend thoroughly.  The batter will be very thin.
4.  Fold in blueberries by hand until evenly mixed.  (They’ll settle down to the bottom over time, since the batter is so thin.)
5.  Lightly grease a 12-cup muffin pan, or use paper muffin cups.  Distribute the batter equally among the 12 cups, filling each about 2/3 full.
6.  Bake muffins for 15-20 minutes, or until golden-brown.  Let cool 10 minutes before removing from pan, especially if you aren’t using paper cups.  They’re best fresh, of course, but they’ll keep just fine for later and reheat very well, too.

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