Berries are a sweet summer treat and they are also nutritional powerhouses full of fiber, vitamins and minerals, and antioxidants like anthocyanins, ellagic acid, and resveratrol that may help to prevent cancer. Berries are good for your heart and may be helpful in the prevention and treatment of obesity and diabetes.
This week’s recipe features blueberries in a delicious muffin recipe, and was sent to CCSA as part of a series of emails from our resident chef, Dr. Linda Doody. She has been sharing her extensive collection of favorite recipes with friends, family, and the CCSA team as a means of maintaining connections during the COVID-19 pandemic.
For more about blueberries, see our previous blog post here.
“Chefs don’t make mistakes; they make new dishes.” – Elizabeth Briggs
Blueberry Cream Cheese Muffins
Blueberry Cream Cheese Muffins
San Francisco Chronicle, Jane Salzfass Freiman (~1996)
Ingredients
- Muffins
- 2 cups cake flour (if you don't have cake flour, you can substitute 1 cup minus 2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour sifted with 2 tablespoons of cornstarch for each cup of cake flour)
- ¾ cup sugar
- 1½ teaspoons baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- pinch salt
- 3 ounces cream cheese, cubed (try to find a cream cheese without stabilizers, such as the Gina Marie brand)
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 eggs
- 4 tablespoons hot melted butter (160 to 180°F)
- ½ cup milk
- 1 cup fresh blueberries
- Topping
- 6 tablespoons quick or old-fashioned oats, uncooked
- ¼ cup flour
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ cup butter
Instructions
- Muffins
- Adjust oven rack to middle position. Heat oven to 350°F. Put 12 cupcake papers in the cups of a muffin tin; set aside.
- Put flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a mixing bowl. Stir well; set aside. Put cream cheese, lemon juice, and vanilla into a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Process until smooth. Add eggs and process 15 seconds. Clean side of processor with spatula. With machine running, pour hot melted butter through food chute within 10 seconds and add milk. Process 5 seconds.
- Add dry ingredients to processor and mix with 4–6 half-second pulses. Add blueberries; mix until incorporated in batter, about 3 or 4 half-second pulses. Pour an even amount of batter into each muffin cup, filling each about ¾ full. Sprinkle topping (below) evenly over muffins. Bake 30 minutes. Cool on a cake rack for 15 minutes.
- Topping
- Combine oats, flour, sugar, and cinnamon in a small bowl. Cut in butter until crumbly. Set aside.
Notes
The topping was not actually part of this recipe. It is adapted from a Christmas recipe (Streusel Apple Muffins) from an unknown issue of the San Francisco Chronicle. The original topping called for margarine rather than butter.