It’s no secret that I love the Great British Bake Off. I’ll admit, I have watched all the seasons repeatedly, searched the web for seasons not released in the U.S. and I follow most of the contestants on instagram, facebook and on their blogs. I have several cookbooks from individual contestants as well as books with recipes from the challenges in the show.
I love so many of the contestants but I have to admit that Mary Berry is simply one of the best parts of the show. She’s everyone’s sweet Grandma but with a mischievous twinkle in her eye and an unashamed smirk when innuendos are dropped that make Paul turn away from the camera and Mel and Sue start to giggle. I would absolutely love to spend an evening baking with her, sharing recipes and stories, then eat whatever goodies we made and have a cocktail. I mean, Mary loves her cocktails!
When I bake, I tend to find a recipe that looks good and then tweak it a bit to suit my tastes, my families preferences and sometimes make changes depending on what is in my pantry or frig! I really didn’t think I would ever tweak one of Mary Berry’s recipes but, with these muffins, I did. I love a crumb topping on just about anything so I added a topping to Mary’s muffins. Also, I only had frozen blueberries and, Mary’s recipe called for 3 ounces of blueberries. Well, I had about 4 to 5 ounces in the bag. I didn’t want to put just a few berries back in the freezer to get pushed to back and forgotten about! So I just dumped them all in! Other than those two changes, the recipe below is Mary’s.
The vanilla batter is tender and just sweet enough. The crumb topping adds a little texture and the extra berries, well, I’m a firm believer that you just can’t have enough! I just need a little batter to hold my berries together!
And you know my favorite way to eat these muffins? I cut them in half and smother them in peanut butter. It kinda’ like a pb&j with super fresh blueberry jam!
ALMOST Mary Berry’s Blueberry Muffins
Makes 12 cupcakes
For the muffins:
- 1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 2/3 cup granulated sugar
- ¾ cup milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 2/3 cup oil (Mary uses sunflower but I only had vegetable oil)
- 4 to 5 ounces blueberries plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
For the topping:
- 1/4 cup (half a stick) butter, melted
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350° F and place 12 paper liners in your muffin pan.
- Put all ingredients, except the blueberries, in the bowl of a stand mixer (or use a hand mixer). Beat just until combined.
- Toss the blueberries with 1 tablespoon flour to coat them. Fold the berries into the batter gently.
- Mix together the melted butter, flour and brown sugar and sprinkle on top of each muffin. Press in lightly.
- Divide the mixture among the cupcake liners and bake for 25 to 28 minutes until well-risen and light golden. Serve warm.
Variation: Since I have two super picky, non-fruit loving boys, I made a second batch of these muffins without the blueberries. I added one teaspoon of cinnamon to the batter and one teaspoon to the topping. You could make these Chai Muffins if you also added some cardamom and nutmeg!
