Lemon Meets Blueberry

Yes, lemon is back! I warned you with my lemon cupcakes last week that lemon is not only my current obsession, but also that I acquired a bag of lemons at market and was more than a little excited to put each and every one of them to use. With the weekend on the horizon (actually, lets not pretend, it's Friday, I'm already in full weekend mode), I was tired of my bag of lemons staring at me from the top of the fridge and decided it was time for another lemon-infused recipe! 

I'm heading to Baltimore later today to spend Easter weekend with the family. At the age of 15, I proclaimed myself the favorite child of my parents (I have no shame sometimes). Sister was younger and weaker then and thus I wasn't challenged in assuming my position, which I went onto hold for many years. In recent years, however, Sister has gotten much stronger than me (terrifyingly so,as I have little to no upper body strength with which to adequately defend myself) and has begun a somewhat successful campaign to unseat me as favorite! I'm more than 90% certain that I'll always be my father's favorite, but Mother is more of a wild card. Sister and I have decided that she has days (she doesn't announce them, you can just tell if it's your day because you can do no wrong in her eyes and the other sister can do no right...for the record, she claims this doesn't happen, but we witness it every time the three of us are together), but I'm also certain that she favors Sister in general more than me. Sorry, for the long diatribe, that went on way longer than I thought it would! Nonetheless, I said all that to say that the last time Sister came to town (I wasn't there) I got word that she came bearing her famous chocolate chip cookies for Papa! I was irate! Now she's trying to win him over too?! That's where I draw the line. I've already all but ceded Mother to her, I'm not about to lose Papa too! Thus, I knew I could not show up empty handed this time around...enter the bag of lemons.

There are two baked goods that my dad loves above all others: blueberry muffins and chocolate chip cookies. Mother had been coaxing me to make the chocolate chip cookies I featured earlier in the week for him, but I knew they would just be compared to Sister's and wouldn't hold a candle to her's. Thus, I decided to pursue his other favorite treat. I'd found a recipe for blueberry lemon cupcakes a while back, but since I'm making a couple desserts for Easter, decided to take that idea but spin it into a muffin. Victory! 

Lemon Blueberry Flax Muffins

[Inspiration found here]

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup ground flaxseed
• 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 3/4 cup white flour
• 1/2 cup sugar (next time I want to try agave nectar here instead)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 1/4 cups low-fat buttermilk
• 1 large egg
• 1 tbsp grated lemon rind
• 1 cup blueberries

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 400°F
2. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flaxseed and next 7 ingredients (flaxseed through nutmeg) in a medium bowl; cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse meal
3. Combine buttermilk, egg, and lemon rind; stir well with a whisk. Add to dry mixture; stir just until moist. Gently fold in blueberries
4. Spoon batter into 12 muffin cups coated with cooking spray or muffin cups
5. Bake at 400° for 20 minutes or until the muffins spring back when lightly touched. Remove muffins from pans immediately, and place on a wire rack to cool

*Bax dog and I sampled one and it was delish, fingers crossed Papa thinks the same!