Christmas trees! And MUFFINS! Glorious.
This year, the decorating process was a little…ahh…rough. I’d spent the entire previous day flat on my back with the plague, and when I emerged from my cave-bedroom I wasn’t exactly a bundle of joy. But ornaments and lights have a way of making you feel – if not “peppy,” perhaps – certainly festive.
As do muffins.
(And coffee.)
(This video includes a lot of me being grumpy at Kendrick, Santa hats, and hot tubs, per usual.)
These blueberry-lemon muffins are obviously spectacular companions to any tree-decorating session, or as a quick snack or breakfast — and they’re even (sort of) healthy, what with the fresh blueberries and fairlife® 2% reduced-fat ultra-filtered milk, which gives them an extra boost of protein and calcium (remember, fairlife® ultra-filtered milk has 50% more protein, 50% less sugar and 30% more calcium than regular milk, and completely lactose-free and produced without artificial growth hormones). My suggestion: make a couple of batches at a time (you can freeze and defrost them as needed) so you always have something quick to grab when you’re running around during the holiday season.
Baking note: Because of the higher protein content of fairlife® ultra-filtered milk, I’ve found that I usually have to add slightly more milk to recipes than they usually call for.
Blueberry-Lemon Morning Muffins (adapted from Martha Stewart’s recipe)
Makes 24 Mini Muffins (or 12 standard-size)
What You Need:
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1 cup sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
- 2 tsp lemon zest
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 1 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 1 3/4 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp coarse salt
- 2 large eggs (room temperature)
- 1/3 cup fairlife® 2% reduced-fat ultra-filtered milk
- 1 cup blueberries
What You Do:
- Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease muffin tins (I used two cupcake pans so I would end up with mini muffins).
- In a large bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together sugar, eggs, lemon zest, lemon juice, and fairlife® 2% reduced-fat ultra-filtered milk. Whisk in the butter.
- Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until just combined. Fold in blueberries.
- Divide batter evenly between muffin cups (don’t overfill them – one heaping tablespoon each should do it). Sprinkle lightly with sugar.
- Bake about 20 minutes, or until tops spring back when lightly touched.
This post was created in collaboration with fairlife milk. Photos by Kim Ebbets.
