when class gets cancelled...

you make muffins. 

I don't care who you are, but if someone gives you two free hours during the day that were unexpected and completely welcomed, you take advantage of them. You hang out with the dog, turn Spotify on, and dance + mix your way to these delicious muffins.

Blueberry Lemon Zest Muffins

(from How To Boil Water // page 32)

get these ingredients together:
*2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
*3/4 cup white or light brown sugar + more for sprinkling
*1 T. baking powder
*1/2 tsp. fine salt
*pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
*1/2 cup vegetable oil
*1 cup whole milk, at room temperature
*2 large eggs, at room temperature
*1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
*2 lemons
*1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries (about one pint)

then do these steps:
01. Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line twelve 1/2-cup muffin cups with paper liners.
02. Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg together in a medium bowl. Whisk the oil, milk, eggs, and vanilla together in another bowl. Finely grate the zest from the lemons into the wet ingredients.
03. Make a small "well" or space in the center of the dry ingredients. Pour the wet ingredients and blueberries into the center. Stir wet and dry ingredients together with a spatula until dry ingredients are moistened but still a bit lumpy. Divide batter evenly among the muffin liners and sprinkle the tops generously with sugar.
04. Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the centers comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through. Cool muffins in the pan on a rack for 5 to 10 minutes. Turn the muffins out of the pan and cool on the rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

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I made these adjustments -- used 1% milk instead of whole milk, used 1/2 cup of white sugar and 1/4 cup of brown sugar instead of 3/4 cup of white sugar, and squirted a little of the juice from the lemon into the wet ingredients.

I also can pass on this "muffin wisdom" to you that I read in this book -- "We can't stress it enough: Mix the batter as little as possible. Overmixing leads to tough muffins and collapsed tops." "Keep leftover muffins in the freezer, then warm them up in the oven or toaster oven when you want them."

How to Boil Water is one of my favorite cookbooks. I use it all the time for basic recipes and prep tips. If you want to buy it, Amazon is selling new and used copies.