The trick to making blueberry muffins

I don’t quite know how the Americans got away with it: convincing first their own people, and then the rest of the world that a muffin is a suitable breakfast food? A foodstuff which is, let’s be honest, cake. But then, we are quite happy to sprinkle our worthy porridge liberally with demerara sugar, to use yoghurt in our overnight oats or alongside granola, to combine butter and flour in any manner of breakfast staples from toast to pancakes, what’s so different about combining all those things?

In any event, I’m not one to complain about an excuse to squeeze more baked goods into my life; and seeing as those Americans know a thing or two about breakfast baking, I have adapted a recipe from American blogger extraordinaire, Smitten Kitchen, whose recipe in turn takes notes from American pastry chef and recipe developer Stella Parks’, adjusting it slightly for an English audience. This recipe uses lots and lots of blueberries: cramming in as many as possible, in a batter which is much thicker than many muffin doughs, and topping it with a layer of demerara sugar to create a deliciously crunchy topping. And best of all, they’re easy and speedy enough to knock up for a weekend breakfast; just keep a bag of frozen blueberries in your freezer, and you can’t go wrong!