Bakery-Style Blueberry Muffins

     There are some foods that people seem to think can only be made perfectly in restaurants and cafés. Until this weekend, I thought that muffins were one of them. I mean, I've made some great muffins, but they've never been incredible. I woke up on Sunday wanting a muffin like those you get in the best bakeries: soft, tender, and with a big, crunchy top. That's exactly what I got with this recipe. The perfect tops come from the large amount of baking powder in the recipe, and from the baking method: these are baked at an unusually high temperature for 5 minutes before lowering the heat to a normal level for the rest of the baking time.

     These are, in my opinion, the perfect blueberry muffin to have for breakfast. They aren't like the muffins you get in cellophane packages at the grocery store; those are more like really sweet cake with some blueberries thrown in. These are less cakey, a little bit chewier; they are the perfect brunch food or afternoon snack. The soft, tasty interior make them delicious; the big, crunchy tops make them unforgettable. I didn't have coarse sugar for topping them, so I used pearl sugar; it ended up being a great idea, because it added an extra crunch. This is a great base for variations - you can expect more muffins in the near future!
     Enjoy!

Bakery-Style Blueberry Muffins

(slightly adapted from Sally's Baking Addiction) 

3 cups all-purpose flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 eggs

1 cup sugar

1 cup milk

1/2 cup canola oil

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 and 1/4 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

pearl sugar for sprinkling (or you can use coarse sugar)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Spray your muffin tin of choice with non-stick spray or line with muffin liners. Set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon until all dry ingredients are combined. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs and sugar until combined. Mix in milk, oil, and vanilla. Mixture will be pale and yellow. Fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients and mix everything together by hand. Avoid overmixing. Gently mix until all the flour is off the bottom of the bowl and no big pockets of flour remain. The batter will be very thick and somewhat lumpy. Fold in the blueberries.
Pour batter into prepared muffin tins, filling all the way to the top. Top with a sprinkle course sugar, if preferred. Bake at 425 degrees F for 5 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees F and continue to bake for 25-26 minutes until tops are lightly golden and a skewer inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Allow to cool for 10 minutes on a cooling rack.
Muffins taste best fresh the same day. Store muffins at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 5 days. Muffins freeze well for up to 3 months.