Blueberry Muffins

I’m typically the first one up during the weekend. This is not because I am a morning person, but rather my dachshund, Ace, has figured out that I am the easiest one to wake up when he is doing the potty-dance. So as I am letting him outside, my mind surveys the kitchen (and my stomach) on the matter of breakfast. Cereal usually gets the crinkled nose, we ate that during the week. How many eggs do I have? What needs to be eaten in the fruit bowl or the fridge? And most importantly, what is my energy level? I had bought the buttermilk and fresh blueberries in hopes of making blueberry pancakes, but I forgot the bacon, and really had no patience to stand over the stove. Out of instinct I grabbed my trusted copy of The American Country Inn and Bed & Breakfast Cookbook.

There are over a hundred cookbooks in my house, not to mention the set of three-ring binders that hold pages of recipes clipped from newspapers and magazines. However, The American Country Inn and Bed & Breakfast Cookbook is a like a worn out pair of sweats – ripped, stained, certainly not the most attractive choice but very comfortable in a reassuring way. Since I have had this cookbook for over a decade, there is history between us. It’s the first cookbook I actually wrote notes in. It has gotten me through fancy Christmas mornings to quick dessert when we were too broke to go out. As the book is an assemblage of recipes from different people, there are some mistakes. Like the pumpkin bread that really makes two loaves rather than one. Or the muffin recipe that doesn’t list eggs in the ingredients, but mentions them in the instructions (So, how many should I use?) I certainly have gotten compliments from some of the recipes, my grandfather swore the chocolate zucchini bread was just like a cake him mom made, and my own mother loves a pumpkin bread recipe from the book. Being over 450 pages (with no photos) I certainly won’t run out of ideas.

There were nine blueberry muffin recipes to choose from. I didn’t fancy blueberry corn muffins, and I had no bananas for the other muffin recipe, this was picked for being very straightforward. However, there were no really flavorings in the recipe, so the lemon zest and the cinnamon sugar are my additions. Living in Denver, I added another tablespoon of flour to compensate for the altitude. This was probably not necessary, since the dough itself was very thick. The end result was a warm, fruity muffin, made perfect with butter and jam. Not a bad way to start a weekend.

Blueberry Muffins
From “The American Country Inn and Bed & Breakfast Cookbook” by Kitty and Lucian Maynard. This entry was from the Chaffin Farms B&B in Ithaca, Michigan.

Makes one dozen

1 egg, beaten
1 cup buttermilk
¼ cup vegetable oil

2 cups flour
¼ cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
Grated zest from one small lemon (about 1 teaspoon -optional)
1 cup fresh blueberries
Cinnamon Sugar (optional)

Preheat oven to 400˚. Grease muffin tins. Combine first three ingredients in small bowl. In large bowl, combine, flour, sugar, powder, soda, salt and lemon zest. Add butter milk mixture to flour mixture and stir until just moisten. Gently stir in blueberries. Spoon batter into muffin tins. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar and bake for 20-25 minutes.