Fancy Department Store Muffins

Ingredients

2 cups Round Table Pastry Flour or King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

1 tablespoon Baking Powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) Butter or Margarine

1 and ¼ cup Sugar

2 large eggs

½ cup Milk

1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

2 cups Fresh Blueberries / Chopped Apples / Chopped Peach etc.  ( optional )

1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon or Nutmeg mixed with 1 tablespoon granulated Sugar (for topping)

Procedure

1. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt (if using kosher salt, double amount and grind with mortar & pestle)

2. Combine the sugar and butter in a mixing bowl and cream together

3.  Add the eggs to the creamed butter and sugar and continue mixing until light and fluffy

4.  Stir the vanilla into the milk

5.  Set the mixer to the lowest speed and alternately add the dry ingredients and the milk to the creamed butter, sugar and eggs

6.  Add the blueberries or other fruit and continue to mix until homogenous (thaw frozen fruit before adding to batter)

7. Coat a large, half-dozen muffin pan with PAM for baking … Don’t forget to coat the top of the pan (Original Pam combined with a liberal dusting of flour also works well)

8. Portion the batter evenly into the six muffin cups and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar

9.  Bake for 25-30 minutes @ 400°F

Source: King Arthur Cookbook