Super Soft Jumbo Blueberry Muffins with Earl Grey Tea
My cup of tea comes in a muffin
These super soft jumbo blueberry muffins are incredibly tender and super easy to make. You just need one bowl to mix everything! I added earl grey tea leaves for a nice robust floral taste for a twist, but this is completely optional. This is a perfect blueberry muffin recipe for make ahead. You can use fresh or frozen blueberries as well. Have one warm and start your day with the coziest morning ever!
One of the reasons I love cooking so much is because when I’m in my kitchen I feel like a witch. Maybe not all the time, but most times, no matter the amount of time I have to cook, I just start opening my pantry doors and fridge drawers and wonder how can I mix up things that day, no matter how much or how little I’m seeing in front of me. Chances are I will end up with traditional combinations I just love. But a lot of times I will just glance a forgotten ingredient and shout “YOU!”, and then will use it in my cooking any way I can.
That is what sometimes happens with tea. I love cooking and baking with teas. I started with hibiscus tea one day to make it pretty and pink, and the taste it added to the glaze was just perfect. Now I make hibiscus glazes every time I can! On the savory side, I have used green tea for poaching fish with some fresh herbs, garlic and sesame oil and the flavors are so delicate you don’t need to add much to your plate. And then I discovered Earl Grey for baking. It is amazing and you should stop anything you are doing and start baking with it right now (except reading this post of course)!
So if you have a bunch of blueberries around you can do these jumbo blueberry muffins. I have been doing them for a while now but have never officially shared them in the blog. So I’m super happy that I’m finally sharing them “big time” with you! Literally and figuratively.
The earl grey tea adds a robust floral taste to these blueberry muffins, which is a great pairing to the acidity and sweetness of the blueberries. This is how you have your breakfast tea and breakfast food in one bite! Let me share with you how easy are these muffins to make:
How I made my Jumbo Blueberry Muffins with Earl Grey tea leaves:
I started by preheating the oven to 425° and mixing the milk with white vinegar to make buttermilk. The vinegar needs about 15 minutes to curdle the milk, about the time you’ll need to prepare the rest of the ingredients. If you happen to have buttermilk you can skip this step.
Next I mixed very well my flour, natural granulated sugar, baking powder and salt with a hand whisk to break any large flour lumps. Now, I used this beautiful and fragrant Earl Grey tea blend which also has hibiscus flowers, rose petals and sunflowers blossoms. It’s from Deitea, a tea company based in Australia and they have the most delicate and intrinsic tea blends, you need to take a look at them! You can always use regular Earl Grey tea as well.
To use one less bowl, I made a large well in the center of the dry ingredients and mixed the wet ingredients in there, preventing as much as possible to incorporate the flour. You can always use a medium bowl to mix the wet ingredients instead.
Gently mix the flour into the wet ingredients just until there are small lumps of flour. Fold in the blueberries. I like to mix my blueberries with some flour to prevent them from sinking to the bottom of the muffing through the batter while baking.
Fill each muffin well all the way to the top with batter to ensure that pretty mushroom like shape.
If you have the chance, chill the muffins for 10 to 15 minutes. This is an optional step but will help a lot the texture and flavor. Also, the contrast of the chilled batter with the super hot oven will make the muffins rise evenly and higher (in this recipe we start with a 425° temperature before dropping it to 350° after 7 minutes). You can even make these the night before and bake the next morning, just bake for a couple of extra minutes.
Before baking, sprinkle some extra granulated or Demerara sugar for a super crunchy topping. Bake according to recipe. Serve them with butter or sweetened cream cheese.
Can I use frozen blueberries in muffins
Yes you can!! Without any problem. To use frozen blueberries in muffins don’t thaw them, just take them out of the freezer at the moment you are ready to add them to the batter and follow recipe accordingly. For this recipe you need to mix the blueberries with about a tablespoon of flour.
I keep baking these jumbo muffins because they are so easy to make and the result is something out of a bakery shop. As I told you about in my Jumbo Banana and Chocolate Chip muffins, I just love how they make my kitchen counter look! Besides that I love eating them too!
So, will you be adding tea leaves to your muffins from now on?! Or you just take them from a cup? Use it or not, take a pic and tag me when yo make these, will love to see your versions.
Until the next one!
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Super Soft Jumbo Blueberry Muffins with Earl Grey Tea
Ingredients
◯ Whole milk or pure coconut milk - ½ cup
◯ White vinegar - 1 TBSP
◯ All-purpose flour, preferably unbleached - 3 cups
◯ Natural granulated sugar - 1 cup
◯ Baking powder - 3 ½ Tsp
◯ Fine sea salt - 1 Tsp
◯ Earl grey tea blend - 2 tea bags or 2 TBSP, roughly chopped
◯ Organic free range eggs - 2
◯ Sour cream - ½ cup
◯ Butter (preferably unsalted) - 4 TBSP (½ stick), melted and cooled down
◯ Vegetable oil - ½ cup
◯ Blueberries - 2 cups, mixed with a tablespoon of flour to coat them
◯ Extra granulated or Demerara sugar to sprinkle on top
Details
Yield:
6 to 8 jumbo muffins or about 12 regular sized muffins
Total time:
45 minutes
Baking time:
20 to 25 minutes
Equipment:
jumbo muffin or regular cupcake pan, muffin or cupcake liners
Steps
Preheat oven to 425°. Prepare a jumbo muffin or regular cupcake pan by lining with liners and spraying a bit of baking spay on them (optional, just to prevent muffins sticking to the liners when removing them).
In a bowl or large measuring cup mix the ½ cup of milk with the tablespoon of vinegar.
In a large bowl mix with a hand whisk the 3 cups of flour, the 1 cup of sugar, the 3 ½ teaspoons of baking powder and the teaspoon of fine sea salt. Cut open the tea bags and empty them in the bowl or add the chopped two tablespoons of tea leaves. Mix to incorporate.
Make a large well in the center of the dry ingredients. Dump the 2 eggs in the middle and beat them there without mixing with the flour. Add the ½ cup of sour cream, the melted 4 tablespoons of butter and the ½ cup of vegetable oil and mix to incorporate everything, preventing from mixing with the flour as much as possible. Pour the milk-vinegar mixture and mix once more within the wet ingredients.
Using a wooden spoon, slowly start incorporating the flour into the wet ingredients. Mix everything until small streaks of flour are visible. Add the 2 cups of blueberries and fold them in the batter. Spoon batter on each lined muffin well and fill to the top, spreading batter with a spoon or chopstick to make sure there are no gaps in between the batter and the inside walls of each well. If possible, chill the pan for 10 to 15 minutes for improved texture and rising.
Sprinkle extra granulated or Demerara sugar throughly through each muffin top. Place them in the oven and bake for 7 minutes, then decrease oven temperature to 350° and bake for 20 to 22 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean of batter after you inserted it on the muffins in the middle.
Remove from oven and let them cool down completely. You can serve them with butter. They can be at room temperature for one day. After that, store in an airtight container in the fridge. Reheat them in a counter top oven at 350° for a few minutes for an extra crunchy top or warm them in the microwave for a softer texture.
