Blueberry Muffins
Café-style, fluffy and moist blueberry muffins with a crunchy sugar top and bursts of blueberry in every bite — just 5 minutes to mix together.
- 265 g (1 3/4 cups) self-raising flour
- 170 g (3/4 cup) caster sugar
- 1 egg, beaten
- 60 g (1/4 cup) vegetable oil
- 240 g (1 cup) milk
- 125 g blueberries, fresh or frozen
- 2 tablespoons raw sugar, for sprinkling (optional)
- Preheat the oven to 180°C fan-forced (200°C conventional), and line a 12-hole muffin tin with paper cases. If you're worried about greasy liners, tuck a few grains of uncooked rice under each paper case first — they'll soak up any excess oil.
- Sift the self-raising flour into a large bowl, stir in the caster sugar, and make a well in the center. In a separate bowl, whisk together the beaten egg, vegetable oil, and milk until fully combined.
- Pour the wet mixture into the well and fold everything together very gently — the batter should still look slightly lumpy. This is the step where restraint matters most, since overmixing at this stage is what makes muffins dense and rubbery instead of light.
- Fold through the blueberries with the same light touch, just until they're distributed through the batter. If you're using frozen blueberries, toss them in a little extra flour first so they don't all sink to the bottom during baking.
- Spoon the batter into the muffin cases, filling each about two-thirds full, and sprinkle the tops with raw sugar if you'd like that classic crunchy, café-style crust.
- Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the tops are lightly golden and a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Let the muffins cool in the tin for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool the rest of the way.
Chef's Note: The lumpy-batter rule is really the whole secret to this recipe — as soon as the flour and liquid meet, gluten starts developing, and the more you stir, the tougher and more tunnel-riddled the finished muffins become. A few visible streaks of flour or a slightly uneven batter is exactly what you want to see before you stop mixing.
These muffins are best the day they're baked, when the sugar top is at its crunchiest, but they'll keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to two days. For longer storage, wrap them individually and freeze for up to three months — a quick zap in the microwave brings them right back to fresh-baked warmth.
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