Blueberry Muffins (steam oven).
Appliance: Convection Steam Oven
To me, these muffins are perfect—loaded with wild blueberries, a soft crumb interior, and a top crusted with sugar. Muffins always seem to be a let-down with their dense texture and lack of flavor, but these muffins are more like little cakes. This recipe uses frozen wild blueberries which give the muffins lots of flavor and sweetness over the puckery, flavorless fresh blueberries you find in the grocery store. Our favorite brand is Wyman’s Wild Blueberries from Maine. Another factor that makes these muffins so special is the sheer amount of sour cream used. Instead of buttermilk or yogurt, sour cream gives a very tender interior with a rich flavor. Lastly, we top the muffins with oodles of turbinado sugar to create the ultimate “crusty on top” texture.
While these muffins are great baked in a conventional oven, we choose to cook these in the “no-fuss” Convection Steam Oven. The CSO has a gourmet function designed especially for muffins, no preheating the oven and no guessing when they’re done. This mode retains the natural moisture given off by the muffins making them extremely moist and tender.
Makes 12
Time: 40 minutes, 10 minutes active
Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 large egg
1 cup sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 1/4 cups sour cream
1 lemon, zested
1 1/2 cups frozen wild blueberries
1/4 cup turbinado sugar
Instructions:
1. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. In another bowl, whisk the egg and sugar vigorously until thick and light in color, about a minute. Add the melted butter and whisk to combine. Add the sour cream and lemon zest, whisk until mixture is fully incorporated.
2. Add the blueberries to the dry ingredients and gently toss to coat each berry. Add the sour cream mixture and carefully fold with a rubber spatula just until batter comes together (it’s okay if a few spots of flour remain, the batter will be very thick).
3. Divide batter among one 12-cup muffin tin with cupcake liners. Alternatively, divide batter among a greased muffin tin. Liberally sprinkle the tops with turbinado sugar. Place muffin tin into an un-preheated steam oven on rack position 2. Press More > More Gourmet > Muffins > Start. The cycle should be about 30 minutes. When the oven chimes, remove muffins and allow to cool for 10-20 minutes.
*If you do not have a CSO, preheat your oven at 325º Convection and bake the muffins for 25-30 minutes.