Cupcakes

6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter
3 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup canola oil
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk or low-fat yogurt
1 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
1 1/4 cups fresh blueberries, frozen for 4 hours

also needed: paper cupcake liners

Frosting

2 1/4 cups powdered sugar
10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons maple sugar (or sub turninado sugar + 2 T maple syrup)
1/2 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 teaspoons whole milk

Garnish

fresh blueberries

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Pop your paper cups into muffin tins.
2. Melt the butter. I microwave it in 30-second intervals until liquified.
3. Sift your flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda into a bowl. This distributes ingredients and helps fluff up the batter for a more delicate crumb.
4. Whisk oil and butter together in a medium bowl.
5. Whisk in eggs and vanilla extract.
6. Whisk in buttermilk (or yogurt), then milk.
7. Add the zest.
8. Now you’ve got one bowl of wet ingredients, and one bowl of dry ingredients. Add the wet into the dry. Start with about half the liquid, whisk to begin incorporating, then whisk in the rest, until you have smooth batter. You may need to pound the batter with the whisk a bit to break up the lumps. As soon as its smooth, and there are no more lumps of dry stuff, it’s done. Don’t overmix or batter will get gluey and bake up tough.
9. With a spatula, stir in the frozen blueberries. They will start to discolor the batter, so make as few stokes as possible. A little streaking is pretty, I think.
10. Fill each cup about 2/3 full. I used a spoon.
11. Bake for about 18 minutes. I inserted a toothpick into the center of one or two muffins and it came out clean. Let cool for about 10 minutes, then remove cupcakes from pans and allow to cool completely.

Make the frosting:
1. With an electric mixer, cream butter, powdered sugar, maple sugar (or turbinado + maple syrup), vanilla extract and salt on medium-high speed until pale, light and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes. Scrape the bowl halfway through to snag the butter sticking to the bottom of the bowl. You can also do this by hand in a bowl with a whisk and a vigorous motion.
2. If frosting is a little thick and dry, you can add milk, 1 teaspoon at a time, until a spreadable consistency is achieved.
3. Spread over the cupcakes and garnish with fresh blueberries.