Do This Before Using Blueberries In Baking
There might not be anything that tastes more like home than blueberry muffins, pancakes, or even cobbler. Blueberries seem to be the ultimate cozy addition to most any homemade breakfast. There's even a scientific reason behind why blueberries baked in anything taste better. The flavor of blueberries (and other berries, for the matter) is concentrated when they bake which makes them taste even sweeter than they already do (via Bon Appetit).
But, if fans of Great British Bake Off have learned anything, it's that you want your berries to be mixed throughout your batter rather than sinking to the bottom. Luckily, there is an easy trick that will help you have the perfect amount of blueberries in every bite. You can toss them in a little bit of flour before adding them to the batter. This should help the blueberries stay suspended throughout the batter.
Should you want to avoid adding even more flour to the recipe, The Kitchn has another great way to achieve the same suspension in the batter. You can simply add a couple of tablespoons of the dry ingredients for the batter that you've already combined over the blueberries. Just toss them in the dry batter until they are coated then fold them into the batter along with any leftover dry mix at the bottom of the blueberries.
How the trick helps
Another tip you could try is to swap the fresh blueberries for dried ones or even frozen blueberries, according to Blueberry Council. You can also add a bit of lemon juice to keep the blueberries a bright color. However, if you are set on using fresh blueberries, then you might want to understand why blueberries have trouble staying afloat inside the batter. They can sink if the batter is too thin.
Another reason for sinking is that there might be too much air whipped into the batter, so you don't want to over-mix it. However, The Kitchn explains that the blueberries themselves can be denser than the batter, which can also cause them to sink. So, add a bit of flour or dry mix to the blueberries to keep them mixed throughout your muffins or other baked goods. Besides, adding flour or dry mix to them will also aid in preventing streaks from bleeding blueberries. Ultimately it will give you a cleaner-looking muffin too.