WHOLE WHEAT BLUEBERRY MUFFINS

America’s Test Kitchen’s “Best Blueberry Muffins” was the inspiration for this adaptation.  I changed the flour from unbleached all-purpose to a mixture of bread flour and whole wheat pastry flour.  Admittedly, the texture of these is not as light and fluffy as the original.  But if you want to sneak more whole grains into your baking, give these a try because they’re still a great muffin. 


1-1/8 cups of sugar may seem like a lot for a healthy dessert, plus what’s in the blueberry jam and the topping, but remember that you can use a sugar substitute for part of the sugar if that’s a concern.  I recommend Nu Naturals Stevia for a sugar substitute that doesn’t leave an aftertaste, but don’t use it for more than half the sugar amount or that will change.


These muffins are more work than your average, mainly because you have to make the jam first.  If you try to substitute commercial blueberry jams, you’ll get a much sweeter product, and you may not be happy with it.  Besides, the jam recipe here relies on an intense blueberry flavor and natural sweetness that comes from cooking the blueberries way down.

Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins Adapted from America’s Test Kitchen’s “Best Blueberry Muffins” Rating:  8.5 out of 10 Click for PRINTABLE PAGE

Blueberry Jam:  5 oz. (about 1 cup) blueberries, fresh or frozen 1 Tbsp. sugar In small saucepan, combine berries and sugar, mashing berries with spoon.  Cook over medium-high heat till berries are jam-like in consistency, stirring often to prevent burning.  The mixture should cook down to about 1/4 cup.  Remove from heat; let cool thoroughly. Topping:  1/3 cup sugar 1-1/2 tsp. grated lemon zest Combine sugar and zest in small bowl and stir together with fork or spoon till well mixed; set aside. Muffin: 1-1/2 cups bread flour (or unbleached all-purpose, if preferred) 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour (or white whole wheat flour, if preferred) 2-1/2 tsp. baking powder 1 tsp. sea salt 2 large eggs 1-1/8 cups (8 oz.) sugar (or 1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp. sugar + sugar substitute equal to 1/2 cup) 1/4 cup melted unsalted butter, slightly cooled 1/4 cup vegetable oil 1-1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract 1 cup low-fat buttermilk (or 1 cup milk + 1 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar or lemon juice) 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries Heat oven to 400F.  Arrange oven rack to upper-middle position.  Lightly grease a 12-cup standard-size muffin pan and a 12-cup mini muffin pan.  In large bowl, whisk together flours, baking powder and salt.  In another, smaller bowl, whisk together eggs and sugar till light, about 45 seconds.  Add melted butter, oil, vanilla and buttermilk and whisk till well combined.  Stir in flour mixture with spoon or spatula.  Blot the blueberries on a paper towel and carefully stir into batter, being careful not to over mix or bruise the berries.  (Never, never, never beat or stir muffin batter too vigorously.  Over beating the batter is the prime cause for tough or sunken muffins.) Scoop batter into greased muffin pans, using about 1/4 cup for standards, 1-1/2 Tbsp. for minis.  Top each with about 1 Tbsp. jam (about 1 tsp. for mini).  Swirl slightly with a chopstick, using a figure 8 motion.  Sprinkle with topping.  Bake  on upper-middle rack of oven till tops are set, about 12 minutes for minis, 15 minutes for standards.  (You can carefully test with a toothpick, but if it hits berries or jam, you will have to reinsert.)  Cool in pan 5 minutes before transferring to wire rack to finish cooling.  Yield:  1 dozen standard-size muffins + 1 dozen mini muffins.