Greek Yogurt Blueberry Muffins

Tall, jammy, lemon-sugar crusted. One bowl of dry, one bowl of wet, done.

Time: 45 minYield: 12 muffinsDifficulty: easy

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Adapted from America's Test Kitchen's Best Blueberry Muffins, with Greek yogurt and milk in place of buttermilk. Baking powder does all the lifting, so there's nothing to ferment and nothing to wait on. The cooked-berry swirl is what makes the inside jammy; the lemon sugar is what makes the top crunch. The lemon and vanilla are optional, and if you forget them you can add the flavor after baking.

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Ingredients

66 g	sugar— ⅓ cup, for the topping
1½ tsp	lemon zest— optional, for the topping
283 g	blueberries— 2 cups, fresh or frozen; 1 cup of it goes into the swirl
227 g	sugar— 1⅛ cups, plus 1 tsp for the swirl; ~170 g if you want them less sweet
354 g	all-purpose flour— 2½ cups
2½ tsp	baking powder
1 tsp	table salt
2	large eggs
57 g	unsalted butter— 4 tbsp, melted and slightly cooled
53 g	vegetable oil— ¼ cup
160 g	plain Greek yogurt— about ⅔ cup
85 g	milk— about ⅓ cup; whisked into the yogurt
15 g	lemon juice— optional, about 1 tbsp; replaces 15 g of the milk, never added on top of it
1½ tsp	vanilla extract— optional

Method

1
Heat the oven and prep
Rack in the upper-middle position, oven to 425°F (220°C). Grease a 12-cup muffin tin. If you're using lemon, rub the 66 g topping sugar with the zest and set it aside.
2
Cook the berry swirl
Simmer 1 cup of the blueberries with 1 tsp sugar in a small saucepan, mashing as they burst, until reduced to about ¼ cup, roughly 6 minutes. Let it cool while you mix.
3
Thin the yogurt
Whisk the Greek yogurt and milk (and lemon juice, if using) until smooth and pourable, like thick buttermilk. Greek yogurt straight from the tub is too thick and will make the batter pasty.
4
Mix dry, then wet
Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt in one bowl. In a second bowl, whisk the sugar and eggs until thick, about 45 seconds. Slowly whisk in the melted butter, then the oil, then the yogurt mixture and vanilla.
5
Fold, and stop early
Fold the wet into the dry with a spatula until just moistened, with a few streaks of flour still showing. Gently fold in the remaining raw blueberries. Overmixing is what makes muffins tough and full of tunnels.
6
Fill, swirl, top
Divide the batter among the cups. It will mound above the rims, and that's right. Spoon about 1 tsp of the berry swirl onto each and drag a skewer through it in a figure-eight. Sprinkle the topping sugar over everything.
7
Bake
Bake at 425°F (220°C) for 17–19 minutes, rotating the tin halfway, until golden and a toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs. Cool 5 minutes in the tin, then move to a rack.

Tips

Forgot the lemon or vanilla? Fix it after baking. Warm 1 tbsp lemon juice, 1 tbsp honey and a splash of vanilla, then brush it lightly on the hot muffins. It softens the crunchy top a little. To keep the crunch, beat the same three into softened butter and spread it on warm muffins instead.
Batter should fall off the spatula in thick ribbons. If it looks stiff, add a splash more milk. Under-thinned yogurt gives a dense, dry crumb.
Frozen berries go in still frozen, at the very last second. Expect some purple streaking and 1–2 extra minutes in the oven.
Bake right after mixing. The baking powder starts working the moment the liquid hits it.
Swirl gently. Too much swirling turns the whole batter grey-purple.
No Greek yogurt? Use 245 g plain regular yogurt or buttermilk instead of the yogurt and milk.