Blue Monday

I love blueberry muffins. I'm going to be honest - I do think the best muffins are made with fresh MAINE blueberries, not frozen ones. But, I live in Los Angeles, so I don't get fresh Maine blueberries very often. However, Trader Joe's and Whole Foods both stock frozen Maine/Quebec blueberries, which turn into pretty excellent muffins.

Yesterday was a good day for lying on the couch, going for brunch and a walk, and then enjoying a muffin and a cup of tea for an afternoon snack. This is one of the easiest and tastiest recipes I know. It's my mum's recipe, and it apparently was the original recipe served at Jordan Marsh in downtown Boston back before it became a Macy's and had a fancy lunch/tearoom. Enjoy!

Blueberry Muffins (makes 12 muffins)

1/2 cup butter

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

5 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup milk

3 cups flour (reserve a half cup to cup of flour to coat the blueberries)

3 cups blueberries (fresh or frozen, and you can use less or more depending on your preference)

1. Preheat oven to 425. Cream butter and sugar. Mix in remaining ingredients in order until just moistened.

2. Toss blueberries with flour. If you use frozen blueberries, keep them frozen until you are ready to use them. Make sure all blueberries are well coated with flour.

3. Gently fold blueberries into batter. Fill a greased 12 cup muffin pan, or use 12 muffin papers on a cookie sheet.

4. Bake at 425 for 15-20 minutes (the muffins should be golden brown on top).

These freeze really well too - so keeping some in the freezer is nice for snacking!