A few grow-up time goals:
Nose stud goes when college begins, or maybe after. Maybe in the middle...whenever I feel like looking less "rebellious."
Facebook is done when I've got a family of my own. But if I'm weak and I do keep it, I won't be posting things like prayer requests for my teenage son's kidney stones. He'd be in enough pain already.
Budgeting starts...soon. Like when I have a steady job and income, whatever those are.
Scheduling! Timing! (i.e. not making my family and I miss church because I decided to make muffins an hour before we left. Apparently it takes a while for two sticks of butter to brown...totally worth it.)
Finish to-do lists.
Finish things in general.
Cut down on procrastinating. Eventually.
Seeing a pattern here?
Blueberry muffins remind me of begrudgingly waking up on a weekday, dreading school, until the smell of sweet baking blueberry goodness permeated itself into my cozy room. Covers flew off, a glance in the mirror was skipped, and fingers were burned from peeling liners off of hot, steamy treats. Indulgence ensued.
How can you go wrong when you're mixing up brown butter, buttermilk, lemon zest, and blueberries? Simple, you can't. They're a comfort when you have boring adult to-do lists to make.
So these warm my heart, and I think they should warm yours, too.
Blueberry Lemon Brown Butter Muffins
Yield: About one dozen
Ingredients:
- 2 cups flour
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- 1/4 tsp.baking soda
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1 /2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
- 3/4 cup + 3 tbsp. sugar, divided
- Zest of half a lemon, or a whole if you're a lemon person
- 3/4 cup buttermilk
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- Approximately 1 cup fresh blueberries
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a muffin pan with paper liners or grease with butter.
In a small saucepan, cook the butter over medium low heat until browned, swirling the pan as needed to promote even cooking. Set aside to cool.
In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a small bowl, combine the 3 tbsp. sugar and lemon zest, rubbing together with the back of a spoon until mixed and fragrant.
In a large bowl, combine the cooled browned butter, 3/4 cup sugar, 1 tbsp. of the lemon sugar, and the buttermilk. Whisk in the eggs and vanilla extract until smooth. Add the dry ingredients and stir just until combined. Fold in the blueberries.
Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin pans, filling each cup 3/4 full. Sprinkle the remaining 2 tbsp. of lemon sugar over the top of the batter. Bake until golden and a toothpick inserted comes out clean or with a few dry crumbs, 15-18 minutes. Cool in the pan for a few minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Sources: adapted from Completely Delicious, who adapted it from Baking: From My Home to Yours
