So when I said there would be no baking until the summer was over…I lied! Well, OK, not lying, exactly, more like fervently meaning to not bake. Sometimes, though, despite the relentless summer heat, you just gotta have you some baked goods.

A few weeks ago, kidlet asked for blueberry muffins. Just out-of-the-blue, kid wants some homemade blueberry muffins, pretty please, mommy. I was shocked. There’s a little story there. You see, despite cooking plenty in our house, it’s hard to get our kidlet to try new things. She’s a tenaciously picky eater. I think she mostly just likes the idea of me cooking her things - what’s better than having all the attention on you when you’re six, right? Riiiight. Tell that to me next time I make her a meal and she refuses to eat it. Again.

Well, little did I know, but kidlet’s want became my want and I tried a recipe out. It turned out OK. Kidlet ate a few (I made mini ones at the time, and yes, I was shocked that she tried them) and proclaimed them yummy and dad even had some and enjoyed them. But mom wasn’t happy. Mom wanted more out of her blueberry muffins. More….of the bad stuff. More taste, more moist, cakey muffin goodness. More blueberry muffin cowbell.

Enter my mother. Our mother. She’s always our go-to person when we quest for things like the best blueberry muffins. Dudes, mom always knows best. The cliche is, like, 99.99999yadayada% true.

There’s a small hotel in my mother’s equally small hometown of Dayton, Washington - the south eastern-most one. There’s two Daytons, you see, in Washington state. For whatever reason. When my mom revisits her roots, they stay in this Victorian-esque place called The Weinhard Hotel.

When I told our mom that I was on a quest for the best blueberry muffin recipe ever, she recalled some they had at the Weinhard Hotel. These. They gave her the recipe. She gave me the recipe. We made the recipe. More than once.

We are now quite serious about this recipe.

No, I’m not telling you how many of them I ate by myself. But that should help you approximate.

Guess what? These things are easy. For serious, folks, home baking doesn’t get any easier than this, boxed mixes 100% excluded. These taste better than a pre-made mix, anyway. Put. The mix. Away.

In some cute cupcake wrappers the batter goes, all the way to the top, please. Be generous.

A-ha! Finito. Fragrant, wonderful. Worth the oven time, anytime.

These taste faaaaaantastic with a little butter on them as soon as they come out of the oven.

Must be something to do with all the butter already in them.

Now get to baking.

Banana Blueberry Muffins

Adapted from The Weinhard Hotel in Dayton, Washington

Prep Time: 15 minutes Cook time: About 30 minutes Level: Easy Makes: 24-28 muffins

• 2 eggs, room temperature
• 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), room temperature
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 6 ripe bananas
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups frozen blueberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 12-count muffin pans with liners or spray with nonstick spray.

In a large bowl, mash the bananas. Whisk or stir in the eggs, butter and vanilla. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the sugar, flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add to the wet ingredients and stir till combined, making sure all flour on the bottom of the bowl gets incorporated.

Fold in the frozen blueberries (yes, make sure they stay frozen, it helps them to not settle to the bottom of the muffin well). Spoon enough batter into each muffin well to fill it just to the top. Bake for 30 minutes or until starting to turn golden brown. Place pan on a rack till muffins are cool enough to handle, then remove them to cool further. Serve warm with a small pat of butter, enjoy with your coffee or however you prefer.

Notes:

There’s not much to add - this is a very easy recipe!

We used a potato masher to mash the bananas. Sage advice, my friends.

That’s it! Hope you enjoy!

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