I think this is a real deal thing. I googled the topic of  ‘blueberry muffins falling to the bottom’ and it seems there is a lot of conversation  surrounding this phenomenon. I know first hand the frustration.

These were my first muffins. They are moist and lightly sweet and when you get a bite of the bottom…the blueberries taste great! It was like getting only half of a blueberry muffin. And visually  it wasn’t really giving me ‘blueberry muffin’. So I made them again.

I had already used the ‘toss them in the flour’ first trick and it didn’t solve the problem. So I figured that maybe the batter was too wet, and I reduced the soymilk.

I also decided that maybe I should try it with the smaller wild blueberries. They wouldn’t be as as heavy. I still tossed them in the flour, but this time I reserved half for the top. Right before I put them in to the oven, I gently stirred them into the batter with a wooden skewer.

The results were pretty good. There were blueberries throughout the muffin. But I was missing that big juicy bite of blueberry that I love in a Blueberry muffin! And the bleeding color from the blueberries made the tops a little gray.

Take three….

This time I decided to add another technique I’d heard of. I rinsed my frozen berries in water then patted them dry. This is supposed to keep them from bleeding color into the muffin batter. Then I sprinkled them with some of the dry mixture and mixed half in the batter and put half on top.

Success! There are blueberries on top! Light and fluffy on the inside, with a bit of a crispness on the tops of the muffins. Super yummy! And let me tell you some other reasons why you’ll love this recipe!

• It uses whole wheat pastry flour which still has the nutrition of the bran and germ, and doesn’t cause a spike in your blood sugar like white flour.

          * (This recipe uses half wheat, half white for texture, but you could certainly use all whole     wheat)

• There is only 1/4 cup refined sugar. The rest is from maple syrup, which carries minerals and vitamins that are not found in refined sugar. There are also fewer calories!

• Its made with kuzu, which is produced without the significant refining process that cornstarch goes through, and has a long tradition of medicinal applications.

• Its Vegan! So that means, no milk, no eggs, no butter.

Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins

Yield: 12 standard size muffins

Ingredients:

¾ cups whole wheat pastry flour+ 2 Tablespoons

¾ cups unbleached all purpose flour

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

¾ teaspoons baking soda

½ teaspoon sea salt

¼ cup organic light cane sugar

2/3 cups soymilk

2  Tablespoons Kuzu (rounded if unground, level if ground)

1/4 cup refined coconut oil,melted, or vegetable oil

½ cup maple syrup

2 1/2  teaspoon lemon juice

1 ½ teaspoons apple cider vinegar

1 1/2  cup frozen blueberries, rinsed and dried

Procedure:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Oil a standard muffin tin, or line with cupcake liners.

Whisk flour before measuring.  Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar. Whisk again to combine.

In a small bowl, whisk milk and kuzu to create a foamy mix. Add melted coconut(refined) or vegetable oil, maple syrup, vinegar, and lemon, and whisk to blend.

In a collander or strainer, rinse blueberries under running water until the water clears, about 5 seconds. Lay them on a paper towel and dry them well. Sprinkle them with about 2 Tablespoons of the flour mixture.

Using a ¼ cup measure, fill each well about ¾ full.  AFTER the batter has been poured, drop blueberries onto the top of  each. Bake for 16-18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean, or with a few moist crumbs.

Allow to cool 5 minutes in pan. After cooled run a knife carefully around each muffin and turn pan over to release muffins. Allow to fully cool on a baking rack.