Ahhh, blueberry season. Isn’t it the best? When wild blueberries were designated the Maine state fruit in 1991, there were really no other contenders. I eat them every day during their brief season – sprinkled on my breakfast yogurt or cereal, added to my salad at lunch, and eaten by the handful after supper. As great as they are in their raw state, it’s in baked goods that blueberries really come into their own, releasing some of their flavorful juices and contributing their gorgeous color to pies, muffins, cobblers, cakes, quick breads and pancakes.
THE BEST BLUEBERRY MUFFINS
These really are The Best Muffins – chock full of blueberries, enough butter to make them taste just the right degree of rich, and the perfect amount of sweetening, including some brown sugar, which adds a subtle dimension of flavor.
Makes 12 muffins
2 cups all-purpose flour
⅓ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup packed light brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
¾ teaspoon salt
2 eggs
¾ cup whole or low-fat milk
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Generous 1 cup blueberries
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Grease a 12-cup muffin tin well or line with paper liners and spray liners with cooking oil spray.
Set a medium-mesh sieve over a large bowl and measure flour, sugar, brown sugar, baking powder and salt into the sieve. Use your fingers or a wooden spoon to push mixture through the sieve. (This removes any lumps from brown sugar and blends the dry ingredients.)
In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk and melted butter. Pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture and stir just until flour is moistened. (Do not overmix or the muffins will be tough; batter should still look slightly lumpy.) Fold in the blueberries. Divide the batter among the prepared muffin cups.
Bake until the muffins are pale golden brown and springy to the touch, 18 to 22 minutes. Cool in the tin for 5 minutes before removing. Serve warm.
BLUEBERRY COBBLER
WITH CORNMEAL BISCUIT
Pie is wonderful, but somewhat time consuming, whereas cobbler is simple and straightforward and takes under an hour to make and bake. In this one, a touch of cornmeal adds a hint of golden color and a pleasing gritty crunch to the biscuit topping. You can roll out the dough to make a one-piece topping as I suggest here, or cut out rounds or other shapes with a cookie cutter, or simply drop the unrolled dough onto the top of the fruit for that nice bumpy “cobbled” effect.
Makes 4 to 6 servings
FRUIT LAYER:
1 tablespoon softened butter for the dish
5 cups low-bush Maine blueberries
½ cup granulated sugar
½ teaspoon grated lemon zest and 2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
COBBLER DOUGH:
¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons yellow cornmeal
2 teaspoons baking powder
¾ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon sugar
5 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut in about 10 pieces
⅓ cup whole or low-fat milk
Lightly sweetened whipped cream or vanilla ice cream for serving
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Generously butter a shallow 1½-quart baking dish such as a deep pie plate or 8-inch-square dish.
In the prepared dish, combine blueberries, sugar, lemon zest and juice, and vanilla, and stir gently to mix. Place in preheated oven for 15 minutes to start berries releasing their juices. Remove dish from oven.
For the dough, in a food processor combine flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt and 2 tablespoons of the sugar and pulse to blend. Distribute butter over flour mixture and pulse until butter chunks are about the size of peas. Dribble milk through feed tube, pulsing until flour is moistened and dough begins to clump together. (To make by hand, whisk the dry ingredients together in a bowl, work the butter in with your fingertips, and stir in the milk with a large fork.) Transfer to a lightly floured board, knead a couple of times to bring the dough together, and roll or pat out into the approximate shape of the top of your dish.
Trim edges if necessary so topping is slightly smaller than the dish; then crimp edges with your fingertips or a fork. Place over the berries and cut several deep slashes to let steam escape. Sprinkle with remaining teaspoon of sugar.
Return dish to the oven. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until biscuit is golden and fruit is bubbly. Serve warm or at room temperature, with whipped cream or ice cream.
Brooke Dojny is author or co-author of more than a dozen cookbooks, most recently “Chowderland: Hearty Soups & Stews with Sides and Salads to Match.” She lives on the Blue Hill peninsula and can be contacted via Facebook at:
facebook.com/brookedojny
Send questions/comments to the editors.
