Blueberry Muffins

I've been on a hunt for the perfect blueberry muffin for years. The right flavor, consistency, weight, and density. I found them at the Christmas brunch table my sister-in-law spread out.

The blueberry recipe is an alteration of a basic muffin recipe. The basic recipe is below and special directions for the blueberry alteration follows.

3 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 and 1/2 cups lowfat plain yogurt
2 large eggs
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 375 degrees. Generously coat a 12-cup muffin tin with vegetable oil spray.
2. Mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl. Whisk the yogurt and eggs together in a medium bowl. Gently fold the yogurt-egg mixture into the flour mixture with a rubber spatula until just combined. Fold in the melted butter.
3. Use a large ice-cream scoop or measuring cup to divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups. Bake until golden and a toothpick comes out with just a few crumbs attached, 25 to 30 minutes. NOTE FROM JENNY: Following these directions results in absurdly gigantic muffins, I usually make 18 muffins from this recipe and reduce the cook time to 22-25 minutes. :) NOTE FROM JENELLE: I made 24 smaller muffins with cooktime about 21 minutes.
4. Let the muffins cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then flip out onto a wire rack and let cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Blueberry variation:
Add 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest to the yogurt-egg mixture and fold 1 and 1/2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries (rinsed well) into finished batter. Add 1 tablespoon of flour to fresh blueberries. Frozen should be rinsed in a strainer until water runs clear, drain on paper towel, and pat dry before adding to the batter.

Total Costs $3.75
Flour - $.40 (Sunmart)
Sugar - $.20 (Cashwise)
Blueberries - $1.50 (Various)
Butter - $.45 (Sunmart)
Yogurt - $1.00 (Walmart)
Eggs - $.20 (Sunmart)
Other ingredients from pantry stock

The muffins freeze/thaw well. Just be sure they aren't overdone or dry before they are frozen.