Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins: How to Use a Cast Iron Muffin Pan

Hearty, moist, and perfectly soft, these 100% whole wheat blueberry muffins make a great breakfast on the go. Made from scratch with 100% white whole wheat flour, fresh or frozen blueberries, and real, whole ingredients. Learn how to use a cast iron muffin pan for the perfect golden brown muffins that don’t stick in the pan. One of the things I love about these muffins is how sturdy they are. They don’t crumble in your hand and make a mess while you’re eating them, but they are still soft and tender.

Blueberries are in season!

Blueberries are my favorite berry. That’s a tough call to make, because all berries are delicious. When I discovered that Louisiana is a great place to grow blueberries, I was thrilled. There are multiple U-Pick blueberry options in my area. One of the first things we planted at our new home was several blueberry bushes in front of our front porch. In early summer, the berries ripen and we spend a few minutes every day picking (and eating) bowls of blueberries.

Now that our blueberry bushes are maturing, we have more berries than we can eat in one sitting. So we can make delicious recipes like these blueberry muffins.

Truth be told, I’ve been making these 100% whole wheat blueberry muffins for over ten years now, long before I could pick my own blueberries. They never fail, and are incredibly delicious. The whole wheat is more filling than white flour, and though I wouldn’t call these muffins a health food, they are made from scratch with whole wheat, blueberries, butter, eggs, and yogurt, all of which offer quite a bit of nutrition.

How to Make Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins in a Cast Iron Pan

Equipment (Amazon Affiliate links)

• Grain mill. You can use store bought whole wheat flour, but I highly recommend grinding your own wheat. Using freshly ground wheat will result in better flavor, texture, and nutrition. I like to grind wheat in small batches and store it in my pantry for convenience. Just be sure you use up freshly ground flour quickly, within a month. You can read more about storing whole grain flour in this helpful blog post.

• KitchenAid stand mixer. I love mine and use it a ton! You can use any kind of mixer.
• Cast iron muffin pans. These make a beautiful, soft, golden crust on your muffin. Keep them well-seasoned and the muffins will pop right out, and the pan will be very easy to clean. I highly recommend them! But you can use any muffin pan.

• Rubber spatula, for scraping the bowl.

Instructions

• If you are baking these muffins right away, grease a muffin pan and preheat your oven to 400°F. This is how I use my cast iron muffin pans. To prep them, I put a dab of oil or butter in each cup, then preheat them when I turn on the oven. The combination of the melted butter and the hot iron will prevent sticking. Preheating the pan is not necessary with regular steel/aluminum muffin pans, but you should grease them. You can use paper liners, but I find that the muffins stick to them, which is annoying. Grease your muffin pan well, and you will have beautiful muffins that don’t stick to the pan. Baking without a liner also gives the muffins a beautiful golden outside.

• In a stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy and almost white. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each one. Add the vanilla and yogurt, and mix until incorporated.
• Add the wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt to the bowl all at once. Make sure there are no lumps in the baking soda. To do this, I like to measure it, then sprinkle it into the bowl with my fingers to feel and crumble any lumps.
• Mix on low speed just until smooth. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to make sure there are no dry spots left. Do not overmix, or you will have tough, unappetizing muffins, instead of soft, tender muffins.
• Gently fold in the blueberries. Fresh blueberries have a better (fresher!) flavor, but frozen blueberries still taste delicious.

• Refrigerate at least an hour (optional, but it helps soften the bran part of the whole wheat flour, resulting in a softer and tenderer muffin.) This is a great recipe to make in the evening, refrigerate, and bake for breakfast.
• If you refrigerated your muffins, preheat the oven and your cast iron pan for 10-15 minutes before adding muffin batter and baking.
• Scoop 1/4 cup of batter into each muffin cup in your prepared pan. Sprinkle with coarse sugar (optional.) Bake 20 minutes (25 if not using cast iron.)
• Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes. Resist the urge to remove them from the pan right out of the oven. It will not go well. The muffins need to firm up first. However, waiting until they are completely cool to remove them is also not advised, since they will steam themselves and become rubbery. Set your timer for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, flip them out of the pan by running a butter knife under any sticky areas, tilting the pan to a 45° angle, and carefully popping them out. Place on a cooling rack to finish cooling.
• To clean your cast iron muffin pan and keep it well-seasoned, scrub out any remaining muffin residue with a scrubber and a bit of water. You can use soap if necessary, just don’t soak the pan underwater. Rinse well, then dry. Rub the entire pan with a paper towel soaked in oil. Bake in a 400°F oven for five minutes to re-season. This will keep your pan as non-stick as possible.