The dogs’ dad went out with some friends including one celebrating a birthday.  They were meeting super early (for a Saturday) so, blueberry birthday mini muffins.

Used Smitten Kitchen’s blueberry muffin recipe:  https://smittenkitchen.com/2010/08/perfect-blueberry-muffins/

The only changes were the addition of the juice of half a lemon and making them mini.

Melted 5 tbsp of butter and added 100 grams of sugar, 3/4 cup of sour cream (slightly less than 8oz), and zest of half of a lemon.

Added an egg (had only extra large and it worked).

Added 1/8 tsp salt, 1 – 1/2 tsp baking powder, and 1/2 tsp baking soda.

Co meticulously studied the blueberries to ensure quality.

She took her job seriously.

She was satisfied with these 3 (which I ate and didn’t end up in the muffins – not everyone appreciates poodle examined fruit in their muffins).

Added 195 grams of all purpose flour, juice of half a lemon, and almost a pint of blueberries (picked out the smushed and past their prime berries).  Someone had added a note to the original recipe that the acidity in lemon juice would keep the blueberry color more of a red / purple and avoid the grey/ green hue they sometimes get when baking.  And since the zest was being used, why not add the juice.

The batter was quite thick.

Made 30 mini muffins.

Sprinkled the tops with sugar in the raw.

Baked in 350 degrees F oven for about 20 mins.  Turned up the temp to 375 for another 2 to 5 mins to get a deeper brown top.

Mini muffins take a surprisingly long time.  The original full size muffin recipe said to bake 25 to 30 mins at 375.  These were slightly smaller than a third of a regular muffin but the baking time was about the same.  And the time to fill each mini cup…  Maybe there were too many blueberries.

Zo lounged while they baked.

Co inspected the final product.

She seemed pleased.

Zo wanted to join in on the inspection.

Co wasn’t having it.

Happy Birthday L!