Chef Andrew's Ginger Blueberry Muffins

My son sent this to me in an email in 2014!  I found it when I went through all of his emails after he passed away recently.  I wish I had made them sooner to tell him how delicious they are!

 

Blueberry Ginger Muffins 

Yield: 12-14 depending on muffin tins

2 cups   Blueberries, fresh (about 1 pint)

2 oz. Ginger Root, unpeeled, sliced across 1/8” thick

1-1/8 cups + 1 tsp.   Sugar

1 small lemon, zest only with microplaner

2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2-1/2 tsp.   baking powder (not over 1 year old)

1 tsp.   granulated salt

2 Large eggs, room temperature

4 Tablespoons   Butter, Unsalted, melted but not hot

1/4 cup   vegetable oil

1 cup   Buttermilk

1-½ tsp.   Vanilla Extract

1. Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 425˚. Spray 12-cup muffin tins with Baker’s Joy or vegetable oil spray. Bring 1 cup blueberries and 1 tsp. sugar to simmer in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, mashing berries with a spoon, stirring frequently, until berries have broken down and mixture is thickened and reduced to ¼ cup, about 6-10 minutes. Transfer to a small bowl and let cool to room temperature.

2.  Place sliced ginger in food processor, with very sharp blade, along with ¼ cup sugar. Process, scraping down bowl as needed, until the ginger is very fine. Place in small Teflon pan and cook over medium heat, stirring with a wooden spoon or heat resistant spatula, until the liquid has evaporated, about 4 minutes. Cool to room temperature.

3. Zest the lemon with a microplaner and place in a small bowl with 2 Tbs. of sugar and combine gently. Set aside.

4. Whisk flour, baking powder and salt together in a large bowl. Whisk remaining ¾ cup sugar and eggs together in separate medium bowl until thick and homogeneous, about 1 minute. Slowly whisk in the melted butter and oil until combined. Whisk in buttermilk and vanilla until combined. Whisk in the cooled ginger mix and lemon zest. Using a rubber spatula, fold egg mixture and remaining blueberries into the flour mixture until just moistened. (Batter will be lumpy with a few spots of dry flour; do not overmix.)

5. Using a spoon or small ice cream scoop, divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups (batter should completely fill the cup and be even with the top rim of the cup). Spoon ½ tsp to 1 tsp of the cooled blueberry mixture into the center of each mound of batter (quantity depends on size of muffin cup). Press blueberry jam down into the center of the batter with your finger and gently cover the hole with surrounding batter. Sprinkle sugar or sugar-in-raw over the tops of the muffins.

6. Bake until muffins are golden brown and a toothpick inserted into center of muffins comes out with a few crumbs attached, about 12-15 minutes for medium muffins, about 15-20 for larger muffins, rotating muffin tins halfway through baking. Let muffins cool for 5 minutes in tins, and then transfer to a rack to cool a minimum of 5 minutes before serving.