Recipe: Sour Cream Blueberry Muffins

Surely you know it’s blueberry season right now. They’re everywhere: Jersey berries from Hammonton on sale at the supermarket, in little cardboard cartons at the farmers’ market, at the pick-your-own farms, and maybe even in your own garden. We like to buy them in bulk and freeze (after gorging on big handfuls of them fresh, of course) so we can make these quick and delicious blueberry muffins all year long. They bake up fluffy and moist and flavorful—always a crowd pleaser—while the cinnamon and citrus contribute some zest.

You can add walnuts to this recipe if you like, but if you use River Valley whole wheat flour, the nutty flavor of the fresh grains really comes through in this simple recipe.

Sour Cream Blueberry Muffins

1 cup brown sugar, unpacked

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 eggs

1 cup sour cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

zest of one orange or lemon

2 cups RVCG all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 generous cup fresh (or frozen) blueberries

Set the oven to 400°F and mix the batter while it heats. Whisk together the brown sugar, eggs, vegetable oil, sour cream, and vanilla extract for a minute or two. Stir in the citrus zest. In another bowl (or even on top of the wet ingredients if you work quickly), combine the flour, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon. Stir gently until almost combined, then add the blueberries and stir until incorporated.

Drop spoonfuls of batter into a greased muffin tin and bake for 20 minutes, turning the pan 180° halfway through. Muffins are baked through when the edges are golden and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.