Best blueberry lemon muffins

I've always loved the concept of muffins. Bake up a dozen and serve breakfast to a crowd-- with none of the tedious short-order cooking that distinguishes family breakfast as a big chore for the cook. But my family's always been like, 'Yeah, whatever, your homemade muffins are OK,' while somehow giving me the feeling they wish I'd made French toast or pancakes instead.

Happily, I think at last I've figured out how to make muffins they'll like. "The Best Recipe," one of my favorite cookbooks, amazingly does provide exactly what the title offers up-- the best recipe for any number of things you'd want to cook. And I'm very happy with that cookbook's muffin recipe, which I tried for the first time Saturday. I took a dozen plus two blueberry lemon muffins on our weekend fishing trip (along with a dozen guaranteed-to-please chocolate-chip-orange scones) and they were a hit. They were moist, beautiful, sweet. Here's the recipe, adapted a little:

Blueberry lemon muffins

3 cups white whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
10 tablespoons butter, softened
1 cup minus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 and 1/2 cups plain low-fat yogurt
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
1 and 1/2 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen
Vegetable cooking spray for the muffin pan

Heat oven to 375 degrees (350 convection) Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in medium bowl. Set aside.

Cream butter and sugar in mix until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Beat in half of dry ingredients. Beat in one-third of the yogurt. Add two teaspoons grated lemon zest. Beat in remaining dry ingredients in two batches, alternating with yogurt, until incorporated. Coat blueberries in 1 tablespoon flour; fold into batter.

Spray muffin tin with cooking spray or coat lightly with butter. Divide batter among cups. Bake until muffins are golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes (20 or so if using convection). Cool muffins in pan five minutes. Remove muffins from tin to cool on wire rack.

While muffins are baking, heat 1/4 cup granulated sugar and 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice in small saucepan until mixture forms light syrup, 3 to 4 minutes. Brush warm syrup over muffins and serve.