blueberry muffins - attempts 1 & 2

so i looooove blueberry muffins, and in my quest to become some kind of domestic goddess i have devoted time and effort into trying to bake the perfect muffins.  y'know the big squidgy ones with the crusty top and the *slightly* doughy centre? yum. anyway, i cannot say that i have as yet succeeded, however there has been a marked improvement in my efforts as you will see below...

Attempt One

how horrific is that?!? i can't remember where i got the recipe for these ones, but to be honest i don't think the recipe is to blame.  these were banana & blueberry muffins, and i can say with some certainty that i made the following mistakes:

1) using frozen blueberries and then defrosting them in the microwave. this resulted in lots of purple juice, which in turn led to a dull purple batter mix.  not very appetising.

2) not using a muffin tray. rookie mistake, i know i know... this resulted in a giant muffiny mass in the baking tray, with the odd paper case peeking through.  the sample you see above was the best looking of the bunch! scary much?

Attempt Two

much better!! about 50% of the way there i reckon...  i got this recipe off allrecipes.com, it's the first one that comes up when you google 'blueberry muffins', and i would highly recommend it!  the mixture is the perfect consistency and the sugary-cinnamony crust is to die for. this time around i had a muffin tray (i used one of the silicone ones, got it in dunnes for 6 euro) and i didn't defrost the blueberries at all. i noticed most recipes include fresh blueberries, i'm not really sure why or if there's a major difference - i bought the frozen ones because they're cheaper and keep longer. i still made a couple of mistakes this time though;

1) i didn't cook them long enough so one or two were still a bit too doughy for my liking.  the recipe calls for 20-25 mins baking time, i left them in at 200 degrees C in a fan oven for 30 mins and they could have done with a couple more.  i don't know if the silicone tray had anything to do with it? next time i'll probably cook at a slightly lower heat for longer to dry them out better.

2) i didn't let them cool for long enough before taking them out of the tray.  I'M TOO GREEDY! needless to say, a couple of them came apart. but it's tough leaving them in there when they smell so yummy.

here is the recipe anyway, i think it's well worth a look. my changes are in purple:

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour used plain flour, presume it's the same?

3/4 cup white sugar used golden caster sugar 

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 egg (large & organic & free range)

1/3 cup milk used skimmed

1 cup fresh blueberries used just over 1 cup of frozen blueberries

1/2 cup white sugar again used golden caster sugar

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup butter, cubed

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners.

Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, salt and baking powder. Place vegetable oil into a 1 cup measuring cup; add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup. Mix this with flour mixture. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups right to the top, and sprinkle with crumb topping mixture.

To Make Crumb Topping: Mix together 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 1/4 cup butter, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix with fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until done.

i'll update again with my next attempt, and any other baking endeavours!  i am trying to follow weight watchers at the moment (this recipe excluded obviously :S) so i will be attempting low-point recipes in the future, we'll see how that goes!

any comments, suggestions etc will be gratefully received!

<3 H