Best Blueberry Banana Muffins

I always think I can combine two or three recipes to come up with my perfect muffin. So far my attempts at a banana blueberry muffin that has yogurt and oatmeal and whole wheat flour in it have all baked up as little flavorless lumps.

I decided to adjust my sights a little. Banana and blueberry were givens, as those are two things I have in abundance because I cannot survive without an abundance of bananas (brown speckled and ripe) and blueberries (frozen- from my childhood home blueberry farm). Yogurt was in the fridge and whole wheat flour on the counter, so I decided to forego only the oatmeal. Which I suspect was the culprit anyway...

When I first started baking, Martha was my muse, and so it's only fitting that I turned back to her in this moment of need. Thus, I adapted her Healthy Banana Blueberry Muffin and found them AWESOME.

These muffins bake up fluffy with perfectly rounded tops, studded with blueberries and banana bits. They tastes buttery. Complex. Delicious. I ate like 4 within an hour of taking them out of the oven. I wish that was an exaggeration.

Blueberry Banana Muffins

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 stick butter, room temperature

1/3 cup brown sugar, packed

1/3 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

2 or 3 very ripe bananas, mashed- 3/4 cup

1/3 cup vanilla yogurt

1 tsp vanilla

1.5 cups blueberries (frozen is fine)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Use a spray oil to grease a 12-cup muffin pan. You can also butter and flour the pan or use cupcake liners.

Mix the flours, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Mash the bananas and mix them with the yogurt and vanilla. In a large bowl using a hand mixer, or in the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugars until fluffy (about 5 minutes). Add the eggs one at a time, mixing until incorporated. Alternate adding the dry and wet ingredients, mixing between each addition until just blended. Don't over-mix. Stir in the blueberries and divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups, filling each to the top.

I made a ripe-banana shrine to these lovely, lovely muffins.

Also, I've been listening to this song non-stop and I thought I'd share. Zach Hurd- Changing Landscapes

Blueberry Mango Whole Wheat Muffins

Bad news: I am down to the very last of my frozen blueberry supply. As it is blueberry season, this would not normally be a problem, however, I am in Georgia and the blueberries are in Virginia. At least, the blueberries I'm committed to for life are in Virginia. I'm hoping to make a trip in a couple of weeks to see friends and come back loaded down with enough berries to sustain me for another year. I'm almost out of jam, too! Oh, the horrors.

And so, let it be a testament to the power of these muffins that I would bestow the last of my precious blueberries on them.

There are chunks of sweet mango, dark blotches of blueberry, spices like ginger and cinnamon and half whole wheat flour to add substance, complexity and health.

I feel that, in light of the millions of muffin recipes floating out there on the internet, its going to be hard to convince you that

THESE ARE THE BEST MUFFINS I'VE EVER EATEN.

And that you should

GO MAKE THEM NOW. NOW. NOW.

but let me know when you do and we'll talk about how good they are.

Blueberry Mango Whole Wheat Muffins, adapted from Dorie Greenspan's Fresh Mango Bread, found in Baking: From My Home to Yours.

3 large eggs

3/4 cup vegetable oil

1 t vanilla extract

1 1/2 white flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup sugar

1 t baking powder

1 t baking soda

1 1/2 t ground ginger

1 t ground cinnamon

1/4 t salt

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1 3/4 cups diced mangos (these muffins are about 50 times better if you use fresh mangoes. You could also use peaches, and I've also made these muffins with only blueberries)

3/4 cup blueberries (frozen or fresh. if frozen, dust with flour so the batter doesn't turn blue)

Finely grated zest from one lime

Preheat the oven to 350. Grease a 12-hole cupcake or muffin tray.

Whisk the eggs, vanilla and oil together.

In a large bowl, sift the dry ingredients - both flours, powder, soda, salt and spices. Rub the brown sugar between your hands over the dry ingredients to make sure there aren't any lumps. Stir the brown sugar in.

Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ones and stir until completely mixed. The batter will be very thick, but persevere until there's no dry stuff at the bottom of the bowl.

Stir in the mangos, blueberries and lime zest. Divide evenly into the muffin tray. If desired, sprinkle the tops of the muffins-to-be with some sugar.

Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes, until a knife stuck in the center of a couple muffins comes out clean. Remove from oven and wait a few minutes before taking the muffins out of the tray and cooling on a rack.

Enjoy alone or with butter or with friends.