Blueberry Muffins

My husband loves muffins! They are his breakfast of choice, if he has a choice. So, rather than buy them from the grocery store, I decided I would make them. I was prepared to search for the perfect recipe and do some kitchen experiments until it was really perfect, but I pretty much lucked out on the first try. Giving credit where credit is due, this is adapted from Martha Stewart's recipe.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries

1 1/4 cups sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup milk

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Directions:

< Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Put a cupcake liner in each hole in your muffin pan; set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.

Working over the bowl, toss blueberries in a fine sieve with about 1 1/2 teaspoons flour mixture to lightly coat; set aside the flour mixture and the blueberries.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or using a handheld mixer, beat butter and 1 cup sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.

Add eggs, one at a time, beating until combined. Mix in vanilla.

With the mixer on low speed, add reserved flour mixture, beating until just combined.

Add milk, beating until just combined. Do not overmix.

Using a rubber spatula, fold in the blueberries.

Divide batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups. If desired, in a small bowl, mix together remaining 1/4 cup sugar and nutmeg. Sprinkle sugar mixture on top of muffin batter.

Bake, rotating pan halfway though, until muffins are golden brown and a cake tester inserted in the center of one muffin comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack to cool 10 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Tips from Kitchen of Reality:

- The original recipe called for 2 cups of blueberries. I prefer a little less, so I reduced it to 1 1/2 cups. You can tweak this however you like.

- Make sure you have FRESH baking powder. This can make a huge difference in baking. Old baking powder will result in short, un-risen, dense muffins.

- I use cupcake papers, but if you don't have them, you can just butter (or Pam) and flour your muffin pan.

- I used frozen blueberries, and they seemed to work just fine. It's just not blueberry season here yet.

- Be sure to flour your blueberries, as called for in the recipe. Don't ask me why, but this helps them to stay suspended in the batter, rather than all falling to the bottom as your muffins bake.