Look no further! The out-of-this-world Bouchon Bakery Blueberry Muffins are the best you'll ever have. If you love meltingly tender bakery style blueberry muffins with streusel topping, this will become your new go-to recipe. I promise.
1 ¾tablespoons(25 grams) cold, unsalted butter, cut into ¼-inch pieces
Instructions
For the batter: Toss blueberries with 1 tablespoon (10 grams) all-purpose flour in a small bowl, and place in the freezer.
Place remaining ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour (86 grams) in a medium bowl. Sift in the cake flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Add salt and whisk together.
Place butter in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, turn to medium-low speed, and cream the butter, until it’s the consistency of mayonnaise.
Add sugar and mix on medium-low speed for about 1 minute until the mixture is fluffy. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl. Add molasses and honey and mix on low speed for about 1 minute to incorporate.
Add eggs and vanilla paste and mix on low speed for about 30 seconds, until just combined. Add half the flour mixture and mix on low speed for 15 seconds, or until just combined. Add half the buttermilk and mix for 15 to 30 seconds to combine. Repeat with the remaining dry ingredients, followed by the remaining buttermilk.
Remove the bowl from the mixer stand and scrape the bottom of the bowl to incorporate any dry ingredients that have settled there. Transfer the batter to a covered container and refrigerate overnight, or up to 36 hours.
For the almond streusel: Combine the all-purpose flour, almond flour, sugar and salt in a bowl and whisk to break up any lumps.
Add butter and toss to coat the pieces. Work the mixture with your fingertips, breaking the butter into pieces no larger than ⅛ inch and combining it with the flour mixture. Do not overwork the mixture or allow the butter to become soft; if it does, place the bowl in the refrigerator to harden the butter before continuing.
Transfer the streusel to a covered container or resealable plastic bag. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or up to 2 days, or freeze up to 1 month. Use the streusel while it is cold.
To bake the muffins: Preheat the oven to 425°F. Line a 6-cup jumbo muffin pan with muffin papers and spray the papers with nonstick cooking spray, or alternatively line 13 cups in two standard muffin pans (space them out between the pans) with paper liners. Remove the batter from the refrigerator and let it sit at room temperature for 5 minutes to begin to soften.
Stir the blueberries into the batter and spoon batter evenly into the muffin papers, stopping about ⅜ inch from the top. Divide the streusel over the tops of the muffins.
Place pan in the oven, lower the oven temperature to 325°F, and bake for 36 to 40 minutes for jumbo muffins, 28 to 32 minutes for standard muffins, or until the topping is golden brown and a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Set the pan on a cooling rack and cool completely.
Notes
The muffins are best the day they are baked, but they can be wrapped individually in a few layers of plastic wrap or stored in a single layer in a covered container at room temperature for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 1 week. Defrost the muffins still in the container so any condensation will form on the outside of the container and not on the muffins. Place on a sheet rack and refresh in a 325°F oven for about 5 minutes, if desired.
Bouchon Bakery uses frozen wild blueberries in their muffins because the wild blueberries have a lower water content. You can find frozen wild blueberries at Whole Foods and similar markets. I use fresh blueberries for these muffins, and they work great for me. Wash the fresh blueberries well, drain, and then slightly dry them with a paper towel. Make sure they still have a bit of moisture on their exterior before tossing them with the flour. This will help the flour stick. Then freeze the flour-coated blueberries as directed in the recipe. They need to be frozen to mix into the batter otherwise they will get squished, as the batter is quite thick after chilling. Coating the berries with flour and freezing them helps them remain suspended in the batter and prevents them from bleeding too much as they bake.
If you don't have cake flour, you may substitute additional all-purpose in its place. I have made these muffins both ways, with a combination of all-purpose and cake flours, and only all-purpose and the results were good in either case.
This recipe uses kosher salt (aka cooking salt, kitchen salt, coarse salt outside of the US). If you are using table salt, definitely scale down the salt as that is a saltier type of salt! The type of salt will make a big difference in how salty your food tastes, so keep that in mind.
For scooping the muffin batter I use this Oxo ice cream scoop which is a #12 size, with a 2 ½ fluid ounce capacity. I slightly scant scoop of this size is a good amount for a standard muffin cup.
After dividing the muffin batter into the muffin cups, I like to use wet fingers (just run your hand under the faucet for a few seconds and then shake it off) to press down on the dough to flatten and fill the cups. This way your fingers won't stick to the batter, you can ensure the cups are filled evenly (if you are spooning the batter instead of scooping with a uniform-sized scoop) and you can comfortably and evenly top the batter with almond streusel.