These muffins will change your life.  They are so light and moist that you will forget all about those dense, dry, or gummy things from the bakery case at the grocery store.  These particular muffins have juicy berries, a hint of lemon, and crunchy almond streusel.  It’s everything you could possibly ask for in a muffin (and maybe even a little more).

The magic takes place overnight.  Now I know muffins are usually in the family of instant gratification, but Thomas Keller insists that the overnight rest to allows the flour to fully hydrate and gives the flavors time to marry.

Is it really worth it? All that t extra time between mixing and eating just so it can hang out in the fridge?

In a word: Yep.

I was positive I overbaked these muffins.  Positive.  I spent all this extra time waiting for them to cook to a perfect golden-brown, so by the time they reached that color, I did my toothpick test and it came out dry as a bone.  Now, with the the toothpick test I usually looks for a few crumbs to show there is still some moisture in there, so of course I was devastated.  After the overnight rest, I was going to have to start all over again.  I took a bite anyway, just to see how they were.

They were perfect.  They had a perfect tender crumb and bright, blueberry flavor, with just a subtle almondy sweetness from the streusel.  If I were to do it over again, I would probably add some brown sugar to the streusel to make it more streusely (totally a word).

I adapted this muffin recipe from Shannon at A Periodic Table, who makes it a little more user-friendly for the average home cook, who may not want to measure 72 grams of eggs.  Since I was using her recipe, I didn’t even realize that I was leaving out the molasses called for in the book (which may lend a darker hue to these pale muffins) but, to be honest, I didn’t miss it one bit, and her addition of lemon helps to brighten up the flavor of these beautiful muffins.

You can find the original recipe on page 76 of the Bouchon Bakery Cookbok, and if you don’t have molasses in your pantry, don’t fret, your muffins will survive just fine without it.  I added the almond streusel from the book, but it really wasn’t necessary, the muffins would’ve been just as delicious without it.

Bouchon Bakery’s Blueberry Muffins

Yields 1 dozen muffins

Printable Recipe

For batter:

• ¾ cup all-purpose flour
• ¾ cup + 1 ½ Tablespoons cake flour
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 7 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• zest and juice of 1 lemon
• 2 Tablespoons unsulfured blackstrap molasses* (I left this out)
• 3 Tablespoons clover honey
• 2 large eggs
• ½  teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• ¼  cup buttermilk + 2 Tablespoons (reserved for post-batter rest)

For berries:

• Scant 1 cup of frozen berries
• 1 Tablespoon all-purpose flour

For streusel:

• ¾ cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup almond flour
• ½ cup granulated sugar* (Optional: use ¼ cup granulated sugar and ¼ cup brown sugar, or replace all of the granulated sugar with brown sugar)
• ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 stick (8 Tablespoons) unsalted butter

1. Toss berries with 1 Tablespoon of flour and return to the freezer.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours, baking soda, baking powder, and kosher salt; set aside.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until pale.  Scrape down the sides and add the sugar, continue beating until light and fluffy; about 2-3 minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of bowl (again) and add the lemon juice, zest, and honey (molasses too, if using) and continue beating to incorporate.  Scrape down the bowl, and add the eggs and vanilla, mix on low speed until combined; about 30 seconds.
4. Add the flour mixture and buttermilk in 2 additions (flour-buttermilk-flour-buttermilk) mixing on low just until incorporated. Be extremely careful not to over-mix the batter. Scrape down the bottoms and sides of the bowl one last time, and then either transfer to a new bowl or leave in that one, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or up to 36 hours.
5. While that is doing its thing, you might as well make the streusel.  Mix all of the dry ingredients together in a medium bowl, melt the butter in the microwave and stir into the dry ingredients with a fork until completely mixed.  Cover and refrigerate until show time.
6. When ready to make the muffins, take the batter out of the fridge and set on the counter to come to take the chill off.   Preheat the oven to 425˚F and line a muffin tin with paper cups.
7. Once the oven is preheated, add the reserved 2 tablespoons of buttermilk to your batter and gently fold into the batter to loosen it.  The batter will be very thick (and conveniently scoopable).  Sprinkle the berries over the top of your batter and gently fold into batter, using as few strokes as possible.
8. Scoop batter into muffin cups, and sprinkle with up to 3 tablespoons of streusel, lightly pressing the streusel into the muffin batter.
9. Place the pan in the oven and lower the temperature to 325˚F.  Bake for 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.  Cool completely on a wire rack.
10. These muffins are best served fresh, but can be stored in an airtight container up to 3 days, or individually wrapped and frozen once cooled.  Set out overnight to thaw or reheat, wrapped in foil, in a 325˚F oven for 20-30 minutes until heated through.

 Adapted from A Periodic Table & The Bouchon Bakery Cookbok