By Leslie Brenner
“It’s time to give the classic blueberry muffin a makeover, swapping out all the refined white flour for whole-grain spelt” writes Los Angeles baker Roxana Jullapat in her new cookbook, Mother Grains. Music to my ears!
I’ve always loved blueberry muffins — or maybe loved the idea of them, as I’m inevitably disappointed, finding them too white-floury, too cottony, too sweet. They stick unpleasantly to the roof of your mouth.
Because I love sneaking whole grains into baked goods whenever I get away with it, I was excited to learn of Jullapat’s book, subtitled “Recipes for the Grain Revolution.” It is scheduled for publication on April 20, and I’ve been cooking through it with plans to review, but you need this recipe now. It is far and away the best blueberry muffin I’ve ever eaten in my entire life.
Having a Easter brunch? It’ll be smashing on your table. Or on any weekend morning table.
The recipe, which has you top the muffins with a light and crunchy spelt streusel, is quick and easy — just 15 or 20 minutes to get the batter into the tin. The muffins bake for about 25, then need to cool for 20.
Their crumb is gorgeous and light, and the whole-grain spelt — which I had never baked with until I made the muffins this morning — gives them a mildly earthy flavor without clobbering you with an overly rustic texture or punitive health-food taste. Spelt, writes Jullapat, is “perhaps the best-known ‘ancient’ wheat.” She considers it “a gateway for bakers starting to explore ancient grains.” If I had money, I’d invest in a spelt farm.
Anyway, back to the recipe. Jullapat calls for a half-cup of frozen blueberries, adding that you can use fresh ones as long as you’re careful folding them in. I used fresh ones, and couldn’t help but wonder if the muffins might benefit from more berries than that. I made half using her exact recipe, and added more berries to the other four.
The muffin halves on the right were made according to Jullapat’s exact recipe; the halves on the left have extra blueberries.
I loved the extra berry version, while my husband, Thierry, preferred the less berryful original. In any case, the extra fruit did not compromise the recipe, so feel free to play with that.
Both ways were outstanding, though. I don’t believe I’ve ever eaten more than one muffin in a sitting in my life, and I had one and a half. I could easily have eaten three. Can’t wait to hear what you think — if you’d be so kind as to leave a comment.
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