TWO TYPES OF PEOPLE:
I have always loved having yummy bakery blueberry muffins. You know those giant ones that you find behind the glass window of the coffee shop wrapped in parchment paper and bursting blueberries on top?? I know you know those bakery muffins! Ever since I have gone gluten free, (I loose count how long now) I have missed having a giant bakery blueberry muffin. I’ve made muffins here and there but nothing has ever been as good as out… until now!
Actually I used to hate baking. I have a love hate for it to be honest. The one thing I hate about baking is all the typical steps and the exact order you have to go in. Plus, flour always seems to be somewhere it is not supposed to be.
What I have come to realize is there are two types of people- bakers and cooks. I suppose the third type is non-food making people, relying on others and restaurants. I used to say I was definitely a savory food maker and stayed away from sweets and anything that involved lots of flour but then things changed.
About 5 years ago my husband and I were eating Paleo and I wanted to experiment on desserts since I felt like all of the Paleo recipes on Pinterest were really lacking and just rotated the same 10 meals and desserts. Thankfully, since then, Paleo and gluten-free have come a long way and there are so many more recipes out there.
I also wanted to branch out and experiment with desserts, muffins, and bread sorts of recipes and make up my own because I didn’t want to make everything with almond flour, which was all of the Paleo recipes. I wanted to branch out and eat different things since I believe that eating a ton of the same thing isn’t good for you, even if it is a good whole food like almonds.
Plus, the calories can add up fast if you are adding in 2 or 3 cups of almond flour into a recipe. Yikes! I like to have more than one bite of my desserts.
Almond flour also made things pretty dense and has a bit of a nutty and granular taste, which is fine for somethings, like almond-parmesan crusted chicken fingers but not for other recipes. Almond-parmesan crusted chicken fingers actually sound delicious and I need to put that on my remake list.
And yes, I know that parmesan cheese is not paleo! We are not Paleo eaters anymore although many of our meals are or look close. For the most part, we are just gluten-free (at least me 99%) and I try to limit cheese, eggs, and meat just for the fact that that is how my body seems to operate best.
There are also two more categories. You either are a messy food maker or a clean one. And once again if you fall into that third type, maybe you do the cleaning after eating a wonderful meal or treat. I am definitely a clean cooker. I do not like a messy kitchen at all. I’m not saying that it looks perfect the whole time- is that even possible? I’m just saying, I try to put things away and throw food scraps away and put dirty dishes in the sink as I go.
I also try to use the least amount of dishes possible because that just means more work after. Also, if possible, while things are on the stove cooking slowly or in the oven, I take that time to wash and load the dishwasher.
Whatever kind of baker or cooker you are- neither is right or wrong. As long as you’re having fun or just getting it done to eat or take care of your family (yeah, I feel you, people, it is not always a joy to cook even those who love it!). I hope that if you wish you didn’t have to cook or dread it but have to cook for the sake of saving money and taking care of your self and family- I just want to cheer you on and say- you got this! Go you. Adulting can suck sometimes.
I hope that you find more ease in cooking soon. Even though I love to cook and now bake, I don’t want any meal to take hours or have 10 million steps. If you are new here, I hope you find my recipes to be pretty easy and delicious and healthy. In my option, that is the trifecta of what cooking should be.
AND NOW WE CAN TALK ABOUT THE BAKERY BLUEBERRY MUFFINS:
You are going to love these muffins that I call my big beauties… or Giant Bakery Blueberry Muffins. For this recipe, you can whip it up super fast. The most complicated part will be finding the ingredients in your mother-in-law’s pantry (like I did) and the hardest part with be having to wait until these are done. They do take a while to bake and have a temperature change, but these muffins are gigantic puppies so naturally, it takes a while to cook them.
For this recipe, I started with the inspiration of this recipe that I found on Pinterest (as usual my inspiration starter). Naturally, I tweaked it quite a bit to make it my own because as my husband says “you can’t follow any recipe to a T!” He is so right. I always want to try and make it better than the original or make swaps to add to the challenge of healthy and delicious. If you know anything about the Enneagram, I am a 3 wing 4, so I am Achiever wing Individualistic. So that right there explains why I want to make it “better” and my own or more healthy. But let’s be clear… these gluten free muffins passed the test of my father in law who is the most picky of eaters. He has good reason though, my MIL makes the best glutinous foods and all homemade. My point, even him loved these… and that is the truth!
Speaking of making recipes “better,” I’ve had a new theory that I have been working on with all of my recipes that call for gluten-free flour to see if it helps. I won’t reveal my suspicion yet, but the ingredient is in this recipe, so maybe you can spot a bizarre ingredient! So far it has made a difference.
The other “better” part of this recipe upgrade is the ease of steps. Like I said at the very top, one thing I hate about baking is all the steps and bowls you seem to have to use. Nope- not here. You use one bowl for your dry and a blender for your wet. Then you add the wet to the big dry bowl and mix and you are ready to bake! I mean, I’ve got things to do around here besides baking all day and I am sure you do to. Does it compromise the taste? No way… like I said, these are coffee shop competition worthy.
WHAT YOU WILL NEED:
INGREDIENTS:
2 cups flour (I used King Aurthur Flour)
2 tbsp baking powder (I apologize if any one made these when it accidentally said baking soda)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon (optional)
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
2/3 cup canned chickpeas
2 eggs (cold is fine)
1 cup milk
1/2 cup sour cream
1 1/2 T apple cider vinegar
1 blueberries (and extra to pop in the tops after filling them)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/3 cup (80 ml) vegetable oil
***** Substitution Note: I have not tried making these with, vegan “eggs”, or nut milk…. so try at your own risk although it might not be near as good. I have tried subbing with regular flour and all who tried them agreed they were no where as good as the gluten free version.
TOOLS:
Blender (I used my MIL’s Ninja blender which I am obsessed with and love more than our Vitamix blender.)
Big glass or plastic bowl
Big spoon or wooden spoon
Measuring tools (cups, tsp, tbsp)
Big Texas-sized muffin pans
Parchment paper or nonstick spray or extra oil/butter
Oven set at 425 degrees F and then 375 degrees F.
BAKERY BLUEBERRY MUFFINS DIRECTIONS:
MAKES: 6 GIANT MUFFINS AND 4 NORMAL MUFFINS AND 8 GIANT MUFFINS
In your big mixing bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients (or the first 5 ingredients).
Next, in the blender container, add all of your wet ingredients (or the rest of the list except NOT the blueberries).
Mix up the wet ingredients until smooth and creamy. If you are using the Ninja, it will be about 15- 20 seconds, it’s crazy powerful.
Then pour the wet ingredients into the bowl of dry ingredients and mix well with a wooden spoon – not a hand mixer. You want to make sure to get rid of all the lumps and scrap and mix in any flour that might be hiding under all the batter. (Don’t over mix.)
This batter will be thicker and airy which is going to make those big fluffy bakery blueberry muffins just the way you want them!
I opted to line some of mine with cut parchment squares and sprayed a few down as I was running out of paper. The parchment paper creates a super cute touch and makes them look super bakery official. It is worth the extra time, especially if you’re putting this on the social or taking them to a special function. I got multiple compliments on the paper as they thought it looked super fancy.
Complete these muffins by sprinkling a little extra sugar on top and taking a couple of reserved berries and pushing them into the tops. This will make them gorgeous looking with bursting berries right in view on top!
Finally, pop these muffins in at a pre-heated oven at 425 degrees F.
They will cook for 5 minutes.
Then drop the temperature down to 375 degrees F and cook for 25 minutes. (You can check them with a fork or tooth pick to see if they need more time or if you want them browned a little more.)
NOTE: If you are doing 6 giants and 4 normal size, check your normal size at 15 minutes and keep an eye on them. You can also skip the 425 degrees stage and put them in when you drop the temperature. I will say that my favorite way to have these muffins is from the giant muffins pans.
These big beauties need time for cooling, for at least five minutes, before you tear into them. Even still, they will be very, very warm! Ten to fifteen minutes is best as they will be easier to cut open and butter up!
SERVING THESE GIANT BAKERY BLUEBERRY MUFFINS:
Gather these bakery blueberry muffins up on a big platter or a basket with a kitchen towel lining it. Serve them with butter or honey!
To store any extras, drop them in a sealed container and leave on the counter. To have later, simply microwave on a napkin or plate for 15-20 seconds (in the parchment paper is fine). Mine never last more than three days but after three days, I would store them in the fridge.
As always, let me know if you have any questions and if you make these be sure to tag me @linjoylife or hashtag me #linjoylife. Don’t forget you can save any of these photos to your Pinterest board so you can make this recipe later when you are ready.
Looking for more yumy treats? Try out my highly requested Peanut Butter Cookies (4 ingredients, super fast!).
Happy (clean or messy) baking!