JULESY’S “BLOOB-BERRY” BREAKFAST MUFFINS

Jules or Julesy is what brothers MACLAINE and GRAYSON BUTTERS (Brentwood, Tennessee) and the other grandchildren call JULIE EATON HELTSLEY (Tullahoma, Tennessee). MacLaine and Grayson love to visit Grandpa and Jules on their little farm in the country. When they are not busy playing with Jazz the cat or swinging high on the tire swing, the boys love to “help” Jules pick blueberries from her six huge bushes, using the “pick-one-eat-one” method. When MacLaine was a toddler, he coined the term “bloob-berries” to describe the tasty treats on those bushes. These light and easy blueberry muffins are a favorite of everyone in the family, especially on Sunday mornings before church. Uncles and growing grandkids all get a kick out of stacking their used muffin cups to compare how many they ate (not that anyone’s counting, of course).

Cooking spray 1 large egg

½ cup whole milk

¼ cup canola oil

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

½ cup sugar, plus a pinch for the top of each muffin

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries^*

1 Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Spray 12 muffin tin cups with cooking spray or use baking cups.

2 In a large bowl beat the egg. Whisk in the milk, oil, and vanilla. Add the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt, and mix until the flour is moistened. (The batter should be a little lumpy.) Gently stir in the blueberries.

3 Fill the muffin cups two-thirds full. Sprinkle a little sugar on top. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until lightly brown on top. Serve warm or at room temperature.

MAKES 1 DOZEN MUFFINS.

^* Frozen berries, straight from the freezer, work best. Fresh ones may turn your batter an unappetizing purple color.