Lemon sour cream muffins with blueberries and ginger

So good, people might think you bought these at a bakery!

These are my new favourite muffins, and that’s saying a lot since I have posted many muffin recipes on this blog. The sour cream gives them a rich texture and the addition of ginger and lemon both in and on top of the muffins makes them fantastically flavourful. For the longest time I did not appreciate the value of adding sour cream to baked goods, but these doughnuts absolutely hooked me. You can easily adapt this recipe to make it lactose-free by substituting with the ingredients given in brackets below. While they are truly spectacular fresh out of the oven, these muffins also freeze beautifully, by the way, and the recipe can be multiplied to feed a crowd for a brunch or picnic.

Ingredients

Muffins:

• 1 3/4 cups (415 mL) all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup (180 mL) white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 mL) baking soda
• 1 teaspoon (5 mL) baking powder
• pinch salt
• 1/3 cup (90 mL) salted butter, melted (or canola oil)
• 1 cup (250 mL) sour cream or plain yogurt (or lactose-free yogurt)
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 2 tablespoons (30 mL) milk (or water)
• 2 tablespoons (30 mL) grated lemon zest
• 2 tablespoons (30 mL) freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons (10 mL) freshly grated gingerroot
• 1 cup (250 mL) fresh or frozen blueberries

Glaze:

• 1/4 cup (60 mL) freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 3 tablespoons (45 mL) white sugar
• 1 teaspoon (5 mL) freshly grated gingerroot

Method

• Preheat oven to 375F. Line 16 muffin cups with paper liners and set aside.
• In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda and powder and salt; stir to blend.
• In a medium bowl, combine melted butter or canola oil, sour cream or yogurt, beaten egg, milk or water, lemon zest and juice plus grated ginger. Stir to blend well.
• Add the butter mixture into the dry ingredients and stir gently until just blended. Add berries and finish stirring so all dry ingredients are moistened.
• Use a scoop to fill muffin cups about 2/3 full.
• Bake for 18 minutes, or until browned and a tester comes out clean when inserted into the center of a muffin.
• While muffins are baking, put lemon juice, sugar and grated ginger in a glass measure. Microwave for 30 – 40 seconds until just bubbling; stir to dissolve sugar and set aside.
• When muffins are baked, remove pan(s) from oven and let sit for 3 minutes, then transfer muffins to a cooling rack placed over a baking sheet or piece of parchment paper.
• With a toothpick or small skewer, poke the top of each muffin several times, then use a small spoon to drizzle glaze evenly over the muffins.

Makes 16 muffins.