THE NIBBLE BLOG: Products, Recipes & Trends In Specialty Foods


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TIP OF THE DAY: Blueberry & Yogurt Parfait

When summer gives you affordable fresh blueberries, go all Bubba Gump on them and make every type of blueberry recipe you can think of: blintzes, cheesecakes, cobbler/crisps, coffee cakes/crumb cakes, cookies, fruit salads, ice cream, lemonade, pancakes, pies, preserves, muffins (try corn muffins or this blueberry muffin recipe), sauces, smoothies, sorbet, sundaes, tarts, trifles, whatever.

We often toss blueberries and Greek yogurt (instead of milk) onto a bowl of cereal, but lately we’ve been getting fancier with a blueberry granola parfait. You can have it for breakfast, lunch, a snack or dessert.

In this recipe, the orange yogurt is a refreshing change. If you can’t find orange yogurt, you can use lemon yogurt and lemon zest, or mix chopped orange segments into plain or vanilla yogurt.

BLUEBERRY YOGURT PARFAIT RECIPE

Ingredients For 4 Servings

  • 1 cup granola or your favorite breakfast cereal (we’ve used Cheerios and Corn Flakes)
  • 3 five-ounce cartons of lowfat orange yogurt
  • 4 cups fresh blueberries
  • Fresh orange zest
  • Optional: chopped orange segments
  •  
    Blueberry yogurt parfait with orange or lemon yogurt. Photo courtesy Fruits From Chile.
     
    Preparation

    1. DIVIDE and layer ingredients into four sundae glasses, large-bowl wine glasses or other interesting dish or glass. Start with granola, then blueberries, then yogurt. If you’re using chopped oranges as a layer, add them between the granola and the blueberries.

    2. REPEAT layers. Garnish with orange zest.

    Find more fruit recipes at ChileanFruitOnline.com.
    BLUEBERRY HANDLING & STORAGE TIPS

  • Do not wash blueberries—or any other fruit—until ready-to-eat.
  • To freeze berries, place them one layer deep on sheet pans, freeze, then store in freezer containers.
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    Blueberry Muffins Recipe For National Blueberry Muffin Day

    Homemade Blueberry Muffins
    [1] Homemade blueberry muffins are so much better than store-bought (photo © Taste Of Home).

    Blueberry Muffins & Fresh Blueberries
    [2] Use fresh blueberries whenever possible. If you need to use frozen berries, check out the tips below (photo © Elena Taranukhina | Unsplash).

    A Pan Of Blueberry Buttermilk Muffins
    [3] We love these buttermilk-blueberry muffins with streusel topping. Here’s the recipe (photo © The Baker Chick).

    Fresh Blueberries In A Bowl
    [4] Summer is peak blueberry season. Enjoy as many as you can (photo © Vino Li | Unsplash).

    Blueberry Muffin Ice Cream Sundae
    [5] You can turn sweet muffins into dessert sundaes (photo: The Nibble).

     

    Updated July 2026

    July 11th is National Blueberry Muffin Day. If you’ve never made blueberry muffins from scratch, today’s the day.

    Use seasonal fresh blueberries. There’s nothing like the real deal.

    Most commercial blueberry muffins use frozen blueberries, which can get watery when baking at home. The technique for fixing that is below.

    The creator of this recipe is unknown, but it appeared in early versions of the Fanny Farmer Cookbook. Our Nana used it.

    The recipe is not in recent editions of the cookbook, but you can purchase a reprint of the Fannie Farmer 1896 Cook Book.

    Below:

    > Recipe: Twin Mountains Blueberry Muffins.

    > How to use frozen blueberries.

    > How to freeze the muffins.

    > The difference between muffins and cake.

    > The year’s 4 muffin holidays.

    Elsewhere on The Nibble:

    > The history of blueberries.

    > More blueberry recipes.

    > The year’s 11 blueberry holidays.

    > All of the July food holidays.
     
     
    RECIPE: TWIN MOUNTAINS BLUEBERRY MUFFINS

    The name references the Twin Mountains in Franconia, New Hampshire, a pair of mountain peaks called North Twin and South Twin in New Hampshire’s White Mountains.

    Fanny Farmer, who became the principal of the Boston Cooking School in 1891, originally titled her book The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book in 1896.

    In that first edition the recipe is listed as “Twin Mountain Muffins,” a basic muffin without inclusions. The blueberries were a subsequent adaptation.

    New England readers would have been familiar with the Twin Mountains.

    The name likely worked much like Maine Blueberry Muffins or Cape Cod Cranberry Muffins: It gave readers a sense of place and signaled a rustic northern New England blueberry tradition.

    Ingredients

  • 2 cups pastry flour*
  • 3 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs, slightly beaten
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1/4 cup melted butter
  • 1 cup blueberries
  •  
    Preparation

    1. PREHEAT oven to 400°F. COMBINE 1-1/2 cups flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar in a mixing bowl. In a second bowl combine eggs, milk, and butter. In a third bowl, sprinkle 1/2 cup flour over the blueberries.

    2. POUR the egg mixture over the flour mixture. Stir only enough to dampen the flour; the batter should not be smooth. Gently stir in blueberries.

    3. SPOON into buttered muffin tins. The batter should fill each muffin cup two-thirds high. Bake for 15 minutes.

    To freeze fresh blueberries for muffins without them becoming watery or bleeding too much juice into your batter, you can use the flash-freeze method combined with a few baking techniques.
     
     
    HOW TO USE FROZEN BERRIES

    Frozen berries can become watery when defrosted. Here are tips for the best results with any type of berry:

    1. WASH the berries and ensure they are completely dry by patting them with paper towels or—ideally—letting them air dry on a clean kitchen towel. Any residual moisture will turn into ice crystals that cause sogginess later.

    2. SPREAD the dry berries in a single layer on a parchment-lined baking sheet, making sure they aren’t touching, and place the tray in the freezer for about two hours until they are frozen solid.

    3. TRANSFER the frozen berries to a freezer-safe bag or airtight container, which prevents them from clumping together and allows you to measure out exactly what you need. When you’re ready to bake…

    3. DO NOT THAW the berries: This is when they release most of their liquid and become watery. Instead, take them directly from the freezer and toss them in a small amount of flour (a tablespoon or two taken from the recipe’s total flour amount) to help them stay suspended in the batter and absorb excess moisture during the bake.

    4. GENTLY FOLD the frozen, floured berries into the batter at the very last second and get the muffins into the oven immediately to ensure the best texture and appearance.
     
     
    The article continues below the photo.

     
    Blueberry Muffins & Coffee
    [6] If you want to make blueberry muffins for friends, consider decorative muffin pan liners (photo: The Nibble).
     
     
    HOW TO FREEZE THE MUFFINS

    Blueberry muffins freeze very well when stored properly. Directions typically say “up to 3 months,” but we’ve kept them frozen for much longer.

    1. COMPLETELY COOL the muffins to room temperature. Freezing them while warm can cause condensation and lead to sogginess or freezer burn. Once cooled…

    2. WRAP each muffin individually in plastic wrap or aluminum foil to maintain moisture (we do both for each muffin).

    3. PLACE the wrapped muffins inside a heavy-duty freezer bag, squeezing out as much air as possible before sealing. When you are ready to eat…

    4. THAW the muffins at room temperature for about an hour. If you want a warm muffin, zap it in the microwave for 15 seconds. You can also reheat the muffins directly from the freezer to the microwave for 30-45 seconds. We’ve tried both and prefer thawing first.

    To use a conventional oven, preheat to 350°F (175°C) and bake the frozen muffins for 10-15 minutes until warmed through.
     
    THE YEAR’S 4 MUFFIN HOLIDAYS

  • February 20: National Muffin Day
  • March 2: National Egg McMuffin Day
  • April 16: National Eggs Benedict Day
  • April 23:National English Muffin Day
  •  
     
    THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MUFFINS & CAKE

    Muffins are often referred to as “small cake-like breads” and quick breads, but this explanation needs to be rethought.

    As recipes have evolved over time, the sugar and butter content of many muffins put them into the cake category—more precisely, the cupcake category. Many of them can pass as un-iced cupcakes.

    That’s why you can serve them for dessert. Cut the muffin in half, toast it lightly if you wish, and top it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, or mascarpone.
     
    Lemon-Iced Blueberry Muffins
    [7] Turn blueberry muffins into a sweet, pastry-like breakfast bread with the addition of lemon icing. Or, serve them for dessert with a scoop of ice cream and some fresh berries. See photo #5, above. Here’s the recipe (photo: The Nibble).

    _______________

    *You can substitute 1-7/8 cups of all-purpose flour, but pastry flour creates more tender muffins.
     
     

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    TIP OF THE DAY: Tartlet With Matching Sorbet

    Thanks to the enthusiastic response to yesterday’s easy, light summer dessert, the Pavlova, here‘s another idea. It was inspired by a dessert we saw at Chocolate Lab restaurant in San Francisco:

    Serve a fresh fruit tartlet with a matching sorbet. Here are the easy steps: Choose a pairing theme (mango, raspberry, strawberry or other fruit where you can buy or make a matching sorbet) and assemble the ingredients.

    You can start by looking for inspiration at artisan sorbets±blueberry tarragon, strawberry basil, etc. But there‘s nothing wrong with a simple, everyday sorbet.

    FRUIT TARTLET WITH SORBET

    Ingredients

  • Tartlet shells, purchased or made
  • Fruit(s) of choice
  •  
    Strawberry tartlet with strawberry tarragon sorbet from Chocolate Lab | San Francisco.
  • Optional base (crème pâtissière [recipe] or purchased custard, vanilla yogurt) or glaze (melted currant jelly)
  • Optional garnish (mint leaf, chocolate medallion, etc.)
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    Preparation

    1. CUT the fruit into pieces that fit comfortably into the tartlet shell

    2, ADD a light base of crème pâtissière or alternative (if using current jelly, pour it over the fruit). Top with fruit.

    3. SCOOP sorbet onto plate; add tartlet; garnish and serve.
    FOOD 101: TART VS. TARTLET

    A tart is an open-face pastry with a base of plain or puff pastry dough. It is baked in a shallow tart pan that has either straight or fluted sides and a removable bottom, or in a metal tart ring placed on a baking sheet. The filling can be sweet or savory.

    “Tart” refers to the full-size, multi-portion pastry, a cousin to the pie. Individual-size tarts are called tartlets; a mini tart (bite size) is also a tartlet.

    Unlike a pie, a tart is removed from the tart pan or ring before serving. Here are all the differences between tarts and pies.
      

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