Hey you,
Welcome back to The Good Things.
Lately my daughter has taken a particular interest in being in the kitchen with me while I bake. And I can’t even explain what this does to me. As she’s taking notice and asking questions and wanting to stir things, my mind is filled with wonder and wondering what to make next. If I’m going to teach her, where do I begin?
It has me thinking about beginnings. About where to start. About the recipes that feel like the right first step into baking and into memory and into a life in the kitchen together.
So I started with a question: what is the beginning when you’re baking with a two year old?
For me, the answer was blueberry muffins.
I am not reinventing the wheel or doing anything revolutionary with this recipe. But I tell you what, a good blueberry muffin recipe is a lot harder to find than you might think. There are a lot of totally average ones out there. This one, well, it’s a really good one.
I’ve been writing recipes for some time now, and so many in my early days were overcomplicated attempts to prove myself and my creativity and somehow even my worth. Too many fancy ingredients. Lengthy procedures. Those are not the recipes I’m writing anymore.
Now what I need first and foremost is reliability. Meaning the recipe comes out great every time. Flexibility. Meaning I can substitute ingredients if I’m out of something, which, believe it or not, is something you can do frequently in baking. And voice. I want it to feel like me. Or the way I want people to feel when they make a recipe of mine, or eat something I made for them. Loved, comforted, happy, and lighter.
These muffins are a great place for anyone to begin. They’re incredibly good. So soft and true in their flavor. There’s lemon and so many blueberries and no vanilla, because I actually think they’re better without it. They’re surprisingly good the next day, and it doesn’t matter if your blueberries are fresh or frozen. I make this recipe 99 percent of the time with frozen berries and still. They’re my forever blueberry muffins, and my baby girl is a big fan now too.
Here’s the recipe. Happy baking.
Blueberry Muffins
Makes 12 muffins
Ingredients
¾ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup brown sugar
Zest of 1 lemon
1 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled
¾ cup buttermilk
2 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 heaping cups blueberries, fresh or frozen
Raw or coarse sugar, for topping
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 425°F. Line a standard 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners.
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In a large bowl, combine the granulated sugar, brown sugar, and lemon zest. Rub them together with your fingers until the sugar is fragrant and sandy from the lemon oil.
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Add the melted butter, buttermilk, and eggs, and whisk until well combined.
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In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
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Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and gently fold until the batter is just starting to come together, with a few streaks of flour still visible.
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Add the blueberries and continue folding just until they’re dispersed. Do your best not to over mix here for the sake of keeping your muffins tender and preventing the batter from turning blue.
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Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups. They will be quite full.
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Top with a few extra blueberries, if you like, and sprinkle generously with raw sugar.
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Bake for 20 to 22 minutes, until the tops are deeply golden, domed, and spring back lightly to the touch.
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Let cool in the pan for a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and enjoy.
A few notes:
No brown sugar? Use 1 cup granulated sugar in total.
No buttermilk? Add 1 tablespoon lemon juice to ¾ cup whole milk and let it sit for 5 minutes.
No raw sugar? Granulated sugar works just fine.
This Month I’m:
Listening to: Ulla Dulla by Traffik Island
This song goes on every party playlist I make. It’s where I start when the apron goes on, the glass of wine gets poured, and I get ready to host my people. Take note of the message in the first ten seconds. A great reminder for all of us, I believe.
Cooking: Kid Pasta
Remember that Kroma Bone Broth I shared a few issues back? I really do use it all the time. Right now I’m using it to make a savory, salty sauce for Win’s pasta, and it’s so satisfying that now I’m making it for myself too. This pasta has a nod to Top Ramen, but like if Top Ramen and buttered noodles made a saucy, creamy, cheesy baby. It’s built for ease and nourishment and loving on the kid in all of us.
Here’s what I do:
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Boil any pasta you like.
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About 2 minutes before it’s finished cooking, drain most of the water, reserving about 1 cup of pasta water in the pot.
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Depending on your batch size, sprinkle in 2 to 3 scoops of the bone broth and 2 to 3 tablespoons of butter.
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Let the pasta finish cooking in the savory broth until it thickens into a sauce and the pasta is al dente.
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Finish with fresh cracked pepper and a heavy rain of grated Parmesan or pecorino.
Craving: Wild Rye Sugar Cookies
I cannot stop baking these cookies, you guys. I cannot. Sometimes all I want after a big dinner is a small sweet bite, so I’m leaning into the idea of finishing dinners with friends with a plate of cookies warm out of the oven. Recently I’ve made them with chopped dark chocolate, hazelnuts, and flaky salt, or citrus zest and just a touch of fresh rosemary, or lime with toasted coconut flakes. It’s thrilling to feel like there are so many more flavors to play with when I’m in need of a quick dessert or a thoughtful sweet surprise.
Buying: Le Bon Shoppe Boyfriend Socks
If there is an old woman living inside of me, she reveals herself in this recommendation. They’re my favorite socks. I’ve gifted them to friends who frequently check in to tell me how much they love them. I love the boyfriend style and feel a real compulsion to buy more of them, even though I already have more pairs than there are days in the week. But what can I say? They’re that good.
Reading: My Arthur Brooks report on happiness
I discovered Arthur Brooks on the Tim Ferriss podcast, and my mind keeps returning to his insights. His research on meaning, happiness, and love is not only compelling, but deeply moving and motivating to me, and I would be remiss not to share it with you. Here’s the podcast, and if, like me, you’re always curious to understand yourself a little better, I recommend his Happiness Scale Quiz for $15.
“If you don’t know what to do today and meaning feels out of reach, turn off your device and go love somebody. And it doesn’t really matter how you feel because love is an act. It’s a commitment. It’s a decision. And you’ll lift up yourself and that person and a little bit of the whole world. Happiness is love.”
— Arthur Brooks
Alright, that’s it for this month.
With love,
Sarah
P.S. Feel free to reply and tell me one good thing you’re into lately. A product, a place, a recipe, a ritual… I’m here for it.