Blueberry Gems and a MckLinky for "Blueberry" recipes :-)

I just adore blueberries!  I adore their color, their taste, their size.....even their smell.  I LOVE blueberries. Picking blueberries makes me happy....it's almost like a form of therapy because it is such peaceful, non-stressful and relaxing activity for me.   I am seriously counting down the days until blueberries are actually ready to pick here in NH (for those of you local to the Southern NH area - Monadnock Berries is the best place to go around here).

 And I LOVE baking with blueberries too! Don't you?  What is your favorite recipe to bake with blueberries?  Please do share with MckLinky at the bottom of this post. 

I have tried a lot of blueberry muffin recipes over the years - some are definitely better than others.  One of my most favorite recipes for blueberry muffins I am sharing with you today - Blueberry Gems.  And guess where I found this recipe??!!???  YES, from one of my top beloved Queens of Cooking (QOC) - Paula Deen.  She is a gem....just like these muffins. :-)

Start off by gathering your ingredients for this recipe - which believe it or not does NOT include any butter!!!  Yes, you are reading that correctly.....NO butter in a Paula Deen recipe.  I don't know what got into her when she created this recipe but there is absolutely NO butter in it.  Just good old fashioned oil.

Now, this recipe is so easy to make so don't hesitate to invite a little one to join you in the making of it. I asked Jolie (my daughter) to join me - as I often do when I bake - and she invited her dolly "Sarah" to join us too.   They both did a fabulous job mixing up the self-rising flour and sugar. :-)

Make a little "well" in the flour mixture after you are done combining the ingredients together.  This is where you will ever so gently pour the wet mixture into the bowl.

I find that whisking the eggs, milk, oil and vanilla extract together works best.

And now you pour your wet mixture as seen below in the "well" of the flour mixture.

Mix all together until almost combined and then add in blueberries.  The key to this recipe is to NOT over- mix the batter.  This is the biggest reason why I add in the blueberries before the wet and dry ingredients are completely mixed together....it allows everything to be mixed together BEFORE over-mixing the batter. 

You can either use regular size muffin tins or mini muffin tins.  And you can either grease the muffin tins or use muffin liners.  It is your preference.

This recipe makes at least 12-16 regular size muffins OR 24-26 mini muffins.

Ok, enough fooling around.  Here is the recipe......

Blueberry Gems

(from Paula Deen's cookbook,  Paula Deen Celebrates!)

Ingredients:

2 cups self-rising flour

1 1/2 cups sugar (you could easily decrease the sugar to 1 1/4 cups if you wish to do so)

2 eggs, slightly beaten

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup whole milk (I used 2%)

1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen (I used frozen)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease or line muffin tin/tins.

2. Combine flour and sugar in a large bowl.  Make a well in the center of the flour mixture.  Set aside.

3. Whisk together eggs, vanilla, oil and milk in a small bowl.  Gently pour liquid mixture into well of the flour mixture. Mix with spoon until just combined.

4. Add in blueberries - gently fold into batter.

5. Spoon batter into prepared muffin tins.

6. Bake for 23-25 minutes for regular size muffins. 15-17 minutes for mini size muffins.  Muffins will be nicely browned and puffed when done.

Enjoy!

Please do share your favorite BLUEBERRY recipe!!!

Just click on the link below to share......

(I only meant to post one MckLinky but being my 1st time doing this I messed up so just pretend you only see one MckLinky and use the 1st one).

This recipe has been linked to Hoosier Homemade and Mommy's Kitchen :-)