Geery, Party of Two: Blueberry Muffins with a Lemon Cream Cheese Glaze

When I think about some of my favorite flavor combinations lemons and blueberries certainly come to mind!

So when I saw my Southern Living in the mail I remembered a recipe I've been wanting to try for quite awhile that I found in SL. I had some blueberries I needed to use, and I had everything else on hand.

As if lemons and blueberries aren't enough, throw in some cream cheese and I'm there! (Secret: I'm not actually going to be eating these, I'm sending them with the hubs and his friends to Sports Fest 2013)

Anyhow, here's what you need-

Muffins-

3 1/2 cps all purpose flour

1 cp sugar

1 Tbsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp salt

3 large eggs

1 1/2 cps milk

1/2 cp butter, melted

2 cps fresh blueberries (or frozen)

1 Tbsp A.P. Flour

Glaze-

3 oz cream cheese, room temperature

1 tsp lemon zest

1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 cps sifted powdered sugar

Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.

In a separate bowl whisk together the eggs, milk and melted butter.

Carefully mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just incorporated.

CAREFULLY coat the blueberries with 1 Tbsp flour to keep the color from bleeding into the batter.

They will look something like this.

Now carefully fold the blueberries into your batter.

Mmmmm! Now if you've ever made blueberry muffins from a package you might be concerned that this batter is much thicker. Don't be! These make for a much better muffin!

This recipe makes approx 24 cupcakes so you'll need two cupcake pans and liners.

A blueberry muffin mix ain't got nothin' on these guys!

Pop them in the 450 degree oven for 14 minutes. While you are waiting on them to bake, make the glaze!

Now when I first read the Southern Living recipe it said to use a 3 oz package of cream cheese. I saw the word "package" and almost dumped the whole thing in the mixer. Don't do that.

3 oz. is just under half of this package. Come on, Southern Living. I've never seen a 3 oz package of cream cheese!

My mom got me hooked on vanilla bean paste! I like to be able to see the little specs of vanilla bean and I swear it tastes better! You use the same amount as your would liquid extract.

Pure Madagascar Vanilla Bean Paste, 4 oz. (Google Affiliate Ad)

Yes, that is a little more than 1/4 tsp of vanilla but I REALLY LOVE THE STUFF! Actually I was trying to take a picture of it pouring so you could see the consistency and it came out fast! Ooops! See the specs of vanilla bean? Love it!

I have to confess. Southern Living says to cream the cream cheese with the mixer, add in this, then add in that...I kinda got ahead of myself and threw it all in and I didn't even sift my powdered sugar...and it still came out great! I did have to scrape the sides of the blender a few times.