Tax time means aggregating tons of data and crunching numbers in mean old computer programs that are NOT friendly to writers. Spring can be a hard time of year–unless you’re a duck or an accountant–and I’m sure I’m not alone in wishing I could be doing something besides battling the elements and dealing with spreadsheets!

There’s practically nothing I enjoy more than whipping up something delicious in the kitchen. Every July, I purchase a 5 lb. box of blueberries on sale and put up 1-cup portions in the freezer to use for baking all year. This past weekend I bid adieu to the last of my frozen blueberries in pursuit of one more batch of blueberry muffins. I’m a little ahead of schedule, as I usually like to have frozen blueberries on hand all year, and I refuse to pay $3-$5 for a little plastic container of roughly 16 berries.

The recipe below is based on one from the King Arthur Flour Baker’s Companion, which is not only a great cookbook, it’s an excellent resource for all kinds of ingredient information and baking techniques. Instead of mixing up cinnamon sugar each time I bake these, I mix it up ahead of time and keep it in the cupboard to sprinkle over other things, like toast. If I have other ripe fruit, sometimes I’ll substitute it for part of the blueberries. This time, I sliced an apple that was a little past its snack date and stuck a wedge into each muffin top before baking. The result was delicious!

Classic Blueberry Muffins

1 stick of butter (8 oz.)
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
2 large eggs
1/2 cup milk

1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
2 cups frozen blueberries, drained (if using fresh, mash half of them before adding)
cinnamon sugar (use fresh Vietnamese cinnamon for extra flavor!)

Set oven to 375°
Line 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners; spray each well with PAM.
Put stick of butter into large mixing bowl and microwave it on high for 1 minute. Add to bowl the sugar and salt; beat well, then beat in eggs one at a time. Add the milk and vanilla and stir until well mixed. Add the flour and baking powder on top, muddling the two together before beating into the wet mixture. Mix well. Stir in drained blueberries. Fill muffin cups until full and sprinkle each generously with cinnamon sugar. Bake 30 minutes until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and let rest 5 minutes before removing from pan. Store leftovers in the fridge. Enjoy!