These blistery, bitter cold days have been hard on all of us in the North East. It is torturous to be outside, even for a minute. The anticipation of leaving the house is even difficult. Schools have been closed and many people are choosing to work from home if they can.
Here’s the silver lining: when it’s this cold, it is the perfect opportunity to fine-tune your baking skills. Just think how good it will feel to cozy up on your favorite chair or couch with some hot chocolate and warm sweets. There are so many things you can bake with ingredients you have in your pantry, such as chocolate chip cookies, banana bread or sugar cookies.
The smells emerging from your oven will be enough to make you feel nice and snug.
I love these kinds of days, not because they are cold, of course, but because they give me an excuse to stay home and bake or cook, or better yet, both!
Today I made these darling muffins. This is a first for me, but as soon as I saw the cornflake topping, I was hooked. Light and fluffy on the inside, with bursts of sweet blueberry goodness in every bite. The cornflake topping is perfect for these blueberry delights, giving them enormous texture and crunch. I promise you, these muffins are worth every second you make them and more.
This recipe is courtesy of Ovenly, which I fondly recommend, and will make 12 muffins that will help you forget how unpleasantly frigid it is outside.
Ingredients for Blueberry Cornflake muffins:
Softened unsalted butter or nonstick cooking spray or 12 baking cups, for greasing or lining the muffin tin
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)
1/2 cup sugar
6 tablespoons (3 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup sour cream (preferably full-fat)
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Zest of 1 lemon
Ingredients for the Cornflake Topping:
1 cup corn flakes (organic or without high fructose corn syrup)
1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter at room temperature
1/4 cup turbinado sugar (I used regular sugar and it came out fine)
To make the muffins:
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Grease the wells of a 12-cup muffin tin with softened butter or nonstick cooking spray, or use baking cups.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Reserve 1/4 cup of the flour mixture.
In a small bowl, coat the blueberries evenly with the reserved flour mixture.
Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or using a hand mixer), cream the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until the mixture is smooth and light yellow, about 2 minutes.
Turn the mixer off and add the sour cream, egg, vanilla extract and lemon zest.
Beat on medium-low speed until smooth, about 30 seconds.
Scrape down the side and the bottom of the bowl, using a rubber spatula.
Mix again for an additional 5 seconds.
Add the flour mixture to the wet mixture and mix on low speed until just combined, about 15 seconds.
Remove the bowl from the stand mixer.
Using a spatula, gently fold the coated blueberries into the batter.
Portion out the batter into the wells of the prepared muffin tin, using a large spoon or a cookie scoop.
Fill each well about 2/3 full.
To make the cornflake topping:
Cut the butter into 1/4 to 1/2-inch cubes.
In a small bowl, combine all the ingredients.
Mix with your hands or a wooden spoon until the cornflakes, butter and sugar are well combined and there are no butter chunks.
The cornflakes should be slightly crushed.
Top each muffin with 2 tablespoons Cornflake Topping.
Bake for 25 to 28 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a few muffins comes out clean.
It’s that simple!
