What is the best part of a muffin? The top! Crunchy, sweet...wouldn't you enjoy two muffins tops more that the entire muffin? I would and usually do.
About 10+ years ago, my mother had been over my cousin's house and talked about these muffin tops she had made. The pan was similar to a muffin tin except the cups were shallow. Knowing how much I baked and loved new ideas, my mother bought me a muffin top pan. Whenever I make blueberry muffins you will normally find them as a muffin top. I love this method for two reasons, first, the muffins don't need paper liners and second, the muffin tops disappear. They are easy to grab and delicious to eat.
Last week, one of my co-workers, Alison Moriarty, had brought in a pint of Maine blueberries for each of us. The entire ride home I was plotting as to what I could make with the blueberries. I kept thinking, I haven't made blueberry muffins in a while, and I hadn't made Jordan Marsh's blueberry muffins in...forever! Jordan Marsh's Blueberry Muffins were the best muffins. When we were younger, we would go into Boston to shop for the day and would always stop at Jordan Marsh's bakery to buy blueberry muffins to take home. (Macy's is the old Jordan Marsh) They were big muffins, bursting with blueberries and a crunchy, sugary top.
I found my old newspaper article for Jordan Marsh's Blueberry muffins and started to mix ingredients. It really is an easy recipe and within 10 minutes they were mixed and in the pan. I sprinkled them with turbinadosugar because I love the larger granuals, giving the tops more crunch. I made my first batch of muffin tops and then found a few of my mini tart trays. Presto...mini muffin tops. Whether full muffin or muffin top, if you enjoy blueberry muffins, this is a recipe worth trying.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter
2 cups unsifted flour
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 cup milk
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups large fresh blueberries
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 tablespoons sugar (for top of muffins)
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 375°F.
In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy; add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Add the vanilla and mix well.
In a second bowl, combine all dry ingredients. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the creamed butter and sugar mixture alternating with the milk .
Mash 1/2 cup of the blueberries and stir into the batter. Add the remaining whole berries and stir in gently by hand.
Grease muffin pan. I used a 12 muffin (muffin top) pan. I haven't been able to find them anywhere, but I did find a 6 muffin (muffin top) pan. I have a 6 muffin (muffin top) pan that works well, too. Fill muffin tins, 3/4 filled and sprinkle with remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar. Cook for 15 + minutes until slightly golden on top and the muffins spring back when touched.
Cool on racks. If using a muffin top pan, the easiest way to get the muffin top out is to use a plastic knife and run it along the rim of the muffin. It should release the muffin from the pan.
Enjoy...and hide a few to enjoy later.
(I also had little tart pans and finished off the rest of the batter with mini-muffin tops!)
