Review: Costa's Blueberry Muffins

RECIPE

(I've also copied out the recipe below)

Method:

1. Line the muffin tin with 12 muffin cases.
2. Preheat your oven to 200°C/180°C.
3. Sieve the flour and baking powder together into a large mixing bowl. Add all the other ingredients except for the blueberries and mix until combined.
4. Stir in the blueberries with a metal spoon. 
5. Divide equally into paper cases. Bake in the middle of the oven for 20-25 minutes. 
6. When they're fully risen and lightly golden, take them out of the oven and place tin on a cooling rack.
7. After 5 minutes, carefully remove the muffins to continue cooling on the rack.  

Recipe Evaluation

When I found out Costa had released the recipe for their iconic blueberry muffins, I expected there to be some unusual ingredients involved to achieve that super soft & light texture. I was wrong. The ingredients are nothing out of the ordinary - in fact you'll probably have most of them sitting in your cupboard right now; flour, baking powder, sugar, eggs, milk, vanilla, butter & blueberries.

Another great thing about this recipe is that you probably already have all the equipment that you need. No electric mixer is required - the mixture comes together by hand and everything can be mixed up into one bowl using a spoon (you basically just throw all the ingredients together and mix until combined!). As well as this making it really simple, it also makes the process super quick - start-to-finish this recipe will take you no longer than 40 minutes, so it's perfect if you get that sudden craving.

Once it all came together, the mixture was a nice consistency for transferring to the muffin cases. I used an ice-cream scoop to control the amount of mixture in each muffin case - in the end it probably worked out at around 1.5 scoops per case for the 12 muffins it suggests.

I placed my muffin tray in the oven and set my timer for 20 minutes. After I checked at the 20 minute mark, I placed them back in the oven for another couple of minutes to brown a little more on top. The muffins had definitely risen in the oven, but they weren't bursting out the top like I know the Costa ones do, so I was a little disappointed. All in all though, the bake was simple, really quick, and made the kitchen smell pretty great too.

Final Product Evaluation & Taste Test

I was honestly quite surprised that the result tasted so similar to the muffins I was remembering! The texture was perfect; a crust on the outside, and on the inside, a muffin that's moist but not dense - still light & airy - and super soft. This was the case both fresh out of the oven and once fully cooled - they didn't dry out at all.

They tasted delicious too - I would say more like a breakfast muffin than a sweet treat - but still, delicious. The blueberries add a nice juicy texture (they don't dry out at all in the oven) - probably the reason for the muffins staying so moist. There's also the perfect amount of blueberries running through the muffins, although they did seem to sink right to the bottom on a couple.

The muffins have quite a low sugar content, so I wasn't surprised at the lack of sweetness. Personally, I would prefer them a little sweeter - although adding more sugar to the mix may make a more dry muffin, so maybe the way to go is a sprinkle of sugar on top right before they go in the oven (this will also give an extra crunch to the top of the muffin!).

Overall Score

3.5/5

Pro's & Con's

Adaptations 

• First of all, I would increase the amount of all ingredients by 50% to achieve muffins that burst out the top of the tray. I would almost completely fill each muffin case before baking. If you do this, give the muffins that extra couple of minutes to bake through - don't open the oven before the 25 minute mark.
• Before adding the blueberries, I'd coat them in some extra flour to avoid them sinking during baking. This should ensure the blueberries are evenly distributed throughout your baked muffins.
• To add some sweetness, and an extra crunch to the top of the muffins, I would add a sprinkle of sugar to the top of the muffins. Make sure that if you do this you use a coarse sugar, like demerara or granulated sugar.
• If you want to sweeten the blueberries up & give them more taste, add them and a couple of tablespoons of sugar to a saucepan, stirring on a low heat to cook slightly before adding to the mixture.

Check out my conversion charts if you're struggling with measurements - these are really handy for any recipe, so save or print them so you have them to hand for any tasty treat you bake. 

Thank you so much for reading this blog post! I hope you like this new 'review' style - let me know what you think! I hope this review will inspire you to try out this recipe for yourselves (hopefully with my adaptations too!). If you have a go, please send over a picture of the finished product and let me know which adaptations you made to the recipe and your overall score! Share this recipe review with your family and friends so they can have a go too! If a blueberry muffins aren't your thing, check out all my original recipes and have a go at one of those!

If anyone would like the vegan substitutes to make these muffins, don't hesitate to message me and i'll let you know!

Please leave a rating below, let me know if you liked this recipe review, and ask any questions you might have - i'll get back to you! Leave any recipe suggestions in the comments. 

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Until next time,

Abby x