Guess what? This week marks my one-year anniversary of blogging. It’s pretty hard to believe it’s been just a year, because so much has happened in 365 days. I’m crazy busy all the time between this blog, freelance works and lots of other random projects, and I wouldn’t have it any other way, because you know –  loving what you do and all that. I won’t get all gushy about how much I would love to high-five each and every person reading this if I could, because I wrote you a little love letter HERE just a few weeks ago.

If you’re new around here, I named this blog Foxes Love Lemons as an ode to my maiden name (Fox) + my favorite ingredient. Many people stumbling over here probably expect to see lemon desserts every day, but I guess that’s not what this blog has turned out to be. I’ve always been more of a savory cook, and my love for lemons is really more about how great they are as a flavor enhancer to other foods (thus, why I ALWAYS have a big bowl of them in my fridge).

The greatest use of lemons as a recipe enhancer? It has to be in blueberry muffins. The first time I added lemon zest to muffin batter (after hearing a tip somewhere), it was genuinely life changing. The lemon zest made the blueberries taste more like blueberry! It was almost like a magic trick.

I call these the Best-Ever Blueberry Muffins because I have been honing and tweaking this recipe for years, and I think it’s pretty close to perfect. The two key factors are the generous amount of lemon zest in the batter, as well as the coarse sanding sugar sprinkled on top. This gives the muffins a crunchy, sweet muffin top that’s impossible to resist. Oh, and it looks sparkly too.

Yield: 6 muffins

Best-Ever Blueberry Muffins

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Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 6 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons room temperature unsalted butter
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup full fat sour cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
• 1 tablespoon coarse sanding sugar (optional)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
2. In standing mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream granulated sugar, butter and lemon zest 2 minutes or until light and fluffy. Add egg, sour cream and vanilla and beat until well combined.
3. Add flour mixture and mix on low until just combined. Gently fold in blueberries.
4. Line 6 muffin cups with paper liners. Divide batter evenly between muffin cups and sprinkle tops with sanding sugar. Bake 20 to 24 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of muffins comes out clean. Cool muffins in pan on wire rack 10 minutes. Remove muffins from pan and transfer to wire rack to cool completely.