Good Morning: Muffins from Blue Sky Bakery in Park Slope

[Photo: Maggie Hoffman]

There are many kinds of muffins in this world: some oversweet and over-oily, some tasting more like cupcakes, some joyless vehicles for chunky whole grains. But I've found that Blue Sky Bakery in Park Slope strikes the perfect balance of virtuous and delicious.

Whether they're bran-based or paler, most of the muffins have sparing sugar tops and soft fruit cores—you won't find blueberries, or bananas, or rhubarb studded evenly all the way through, but hiding in a gooey center. Fillings like plum-blackberry or raspberry-banana taste of nothing but sweet-tart fruit, nothing syrupy, nothing cloying. While lesser creatures might rely on the fruit for flavor, these muffins are tasty in their own right: plain, bran, or carrot-based, they're all tender-crumbed and just sweet enough and easy to scarf down on their own. And the charm of the long, cutely cluttered neighborhood bakery is pretty undeniable.

Blue Sky Bakery

53 5th Avenue, Brooklyn NY 11217 (map) 718-783-4123