Blueberry Muffins

This evening we decided to keep the kids up and watch the dance-off episode of "America's Best Dance Crew". Now, we normally don't let the kids watch ABDC because they're normally asleep, but it was the first almost-close-to-a-whole day with Sean, so we extended their day. Anyhoo...we made a run to the commissary earlier (the military grocery store) and I had bought to giant cartons of plain yogurt. One of the reasons being for this blueberry muffin recipe I read on The Pioneer Woman Cooks blog...another favorite blog. I'm a sucker for blogs with great photos (well, and that are fun to read). Anyhoo, I had a bunch o' blueberries in the fridge that we're about to stand on their last leg and needed to do something with them. That's when I saw this recipe and couldn't wait to try it. Ooh, I also made Peruvian Chicken but with no photos and the chicken needing a longer marinating time, I'll post that at a later date.

Here's the recipe:

The Awesome-est Blueberry Muffins
3 cups minus 2 tablespoons flour (I actually substituted in a cup of almond meal...hence the browner color of my muffins)
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
Heavy pinch of salt
Dash of Nutmeg (I did not do a dash, I did a bit more to balance out the cinnamon I added) Cinnamon (a very healthy dose of it...we're talking a least 1.5 teaspoons)
1 cup sugar (I did substitute a bit of Splenda in it)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1 generous cup plain, unflavored yogurt (throw in extra if you want)
2 cups fresh blueberries
Vanilla Extract (as usual, I added waaaay more)
Softened Butter, for muffin tins (I used muffin liners)
Turbinado sugar (optional)

Preheat oven to 385 degrees.

In a large bowl sift flour, baking soda, nutmeg, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In another large bowl whisk together sugar, oil, cap-ful of vanilla (I used about 1-1.5 teaspoons since a "cap-ful of vanilla" is NOT in my vocabulary...I can't even process that phrase), egg, and yogurt. Add the dry ingredients and stir to a count of 10. Add blueberries, reserving 1/2 cup, to mixture and stir 3 times.

Add mixture to well-buttered muffin pans. Sprinkle remaining berries on top and press down lightly. Sprinkle turbinado sugar over top. (Brown sugar can be used instead.) Bake 20 to 25 minutes and allow to cool completely.

I would DEFINITELY not leave out the turbinado!! It balanced out nicely with the texture and the sweetness balanced the tart blueberries. I would've substituted the oil with applesauce but I used my Omega-3 blend veg oil and figured that healthy fat needed to be in it. So, have fun and enjoy!!!