Lemon and Blueberry Muffins

Muffins are my favourite treats at the moment; they are simple to make, perfectly sized portions, and fun to customise with different flavours. This recipe creates a really soft and moist muffin which tastes fresh with subtle lemon and sweet-and-sour blueberries. It feels almost cleansing to eat a muffin compared with say a brownie, and while I love a gooey brownie, these are for the days when you want need something quick, simple and refreshing.
You don't need to worry about over mixing as with most muffin recipes, the batter is beaten for a few minutes to create a light texture. I actually adapted the recipe from a chocolate cake recipe which I like to use for muffins, and one day I started to make some and found I had to no cocoa powder. I decided to add lemon rind and blueberries and everyone really enjoyed them!

Lemon and Blueberry Muffins
Makes 12 regular muffins
125g butter, softened
220g caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
2 eggs
160ml water
250g self-raising flour
1 lemon, zest only
150g blueberries

Preheat the oven to 180c/350f and line a muffin tray with cupcake cases.
Making the muffins is quick and easy using an electric mixer: just weigh out the butter, sugar, vanilla, eggs, water, flour and lemon zest and beat on slow until smooth, then turn the mixer to medium and beat until it has increased in volume and is light and fluffy. Wash the blueberries and toss in flour, to stop them sinking when baked, then stir into the mixture. Spoon even amounts of batter into the cupcake cases; I use an ice cream scoop for this. Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes. A good way to check if they're done is if a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.
Enjoy your delicious muffins fresh from the oven! Most muffins are best eaten on the day... but these are surprisingly still good on the next day.