Blueberry Swirl Muffins

I love pastries with my morning coffee. But when you’re gluten free, it’s not as simple as stopping by a bakery, picking something up and enjoy. I’ve found a new love in baking when I took on a gluten free lifestyle… and this fall I’m completely exercising my baking bug to the fullest extent possible. One of my favorite muffins is  the classic blueberry muffin. I still have a stash of summer blueberries I picked in my freezer so I’ve been playing with different blueberry muffin recipes lately. My recent one were these Blueberry Swirl Muffins. Aside from having plump blueberries in every bite, the added swirl of Lemon Blueberry Jam on the top makes it even more delicious. Sweet with a hint of tartness, a tender crumb and a slightly crunchy topping, this is one muffin I know you’ll enjoy with your morning tea or coffee…

When non-gluten free friends compliment on a GF baked good and can’t tell that it’s GF to begin with, that’s when I know it’s good. I made these over the past weekend for me and Joel to enjoy and we loved them. When I gave some to friends, I got compliments that they couldn’t tell the difference between them and a non-GF muffin elsewhere. The Baron even noted they were really good days later, so they held up and kept great texture without getting dry or crumbly – something typical with many GF muffin recipes I’ve previously tried. So if you have a stash of blueberries lurking in your freezer from the summer, here’s another recipe to use them in. Feel free to substitute with other berries or even chopped apples for something more seasonal!

Blueberry Swirl Muffins Adapted from Cook’s Illustrated Cookbook

Lemon Blueberry Jam 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour {or 350 grams gluten free flour blend} 21/2 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon salt 2 large eggs 1 cup granulated sugar 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled 4 tablespoons vegetable oil 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract or vanilla paste 1 cup buttermilk  1 cup fresh blueberries Preheat oven to 425F. Line muffin pan with liners and set aside. In a large bowl, whisk flour, baking powder and salt together in large bowl.  Set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar. Add cooled, melted butter, oil, vanilla, and buttermilk.  Add egg mixture and continue to whisk till well combined.  Fold wet mixture into flour mixture with a spoon or spatula. Continue to fold in blueberries. Mix lightly and leave the batter slightly lumpy.  Divide batter evenly among the muffin liners/ Spoon about 1 tsp. of jam onto tops of standard muffins.  Swirl the jam into the muffins using a skewer or chopstick into figure eight motion. Sprinkle each muffin with turbinado sugar. Bake muffins in the preheated oven for 16-19 minutes, or until the tops are set and toothpick inserted near center returns with just a few crumbs.  Cool in the pan for 5 minutes before transferring to rack to finish cooling.