Blackberry Muffins

I was at the grocery store a couple of days ago, meandering through the produce and saw organic blackberries for 50 cents.  I wondered what was wrong with them since they usually are much more expensive. I can’t remember the last time I paid 50 cents for anything.  I checked the berries out and saw no signs of mold or rot. And they had a lovely ripe blackberry color.  I got home and washed them and popped a couple in my mouth. They tasted sweet and very ripe.  I could tell I needed to use these within a day or so. 

I consider blackberries a treat since I don’t get them often and when I do they usually are bitter and unripe.  There have been times in my life that I have been in places with blackberry brambles and picked as many as I could, my fingers stained purple and eating every third berry.  I remember a place in the hills above Oakland, California that I came across once on a hike. My daughter Jessica was 5 years old and we had great fun berry picking and berry eating. 

Two Feather’s Farm has blackberry brambles high on the hill on the trail into the woods. These are hard to get to and one summer I was feeling up to the challenge. I ended up with scratches all over and bitten up by mosquitos.  Only to discover that my nephew and niece found them a week before and few berries were left. 

There is a book called “Jamberry” that we had when Jessica was learning to read. It’s a funny rhyming book about a boy and a bear on an adventure to find strawberries, romp through blackberry brambles, and a finale of Raspberry, Jazzberry, Razzmatazzberry fun! A sweet memory to me as I get ready to get my hands in the berries. 

What was I going to do with these very ripe berries sitting in my fridge?  I decided to bake blackberry muffins. I mixed flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.  I melted butter and I mixed in eggs. I zested about a tablespoon (or a little more) of a lemon.  It was an easy recipe that took no time at all.  20 minutes in a 350 oven and the muffins were done.  I let them cool slightly before removing them from the tin.  I oiled my muffin tin well before baking, or so I though but regardless, the muffins stuck to the bottom requiring careful lifting with a spatula and spoon.  This has happened before so my conclusion is that I need a new muffin tin!!

 My muffins didn’t look perfect they looked yummy. They rose to a golden yellow above the muffin pan with the blackberries peaking out. Once cooled, they were ready to eat and enjoy which we have been doing.  A wonderful breakfast for me hot black coffee and a muffin.

Sarelle’s Blackberry Muffins

Preheat oven to 350

2cups of flour

3/4-1 cup of white sugar (I like mine slightly less sweet)

1 tablespoon of baking powder

½ teaspoon of salt

Mix these dry ingredients together. Then mix:

2 eggs

¾ cup of milk (I used almond)

¼ cup of oil (canola, sunflower, etc.)

4 tablespoons melted butter (salted or unsalted I don’t think it matters)

1 teaspoon of vanilla

1 tablespoon of lemon zest (or to taste, I like me some lemon zest)

Mix these wet ingredients together and mix into the dry mixture until just combined. Do not over mix. Overmixing smashes the air bubbles and your muffins will not be fluffy.

Stir 2 cups of blackberries gently into the batter so not to break the berries. 

Prepare the muffin tin by oiling well. Some folks prefer the paper muffin cups, I do not. It doesn’t matter. Fill the individual muffin circles ¾ full of batter. Place in the hot (350) oven for about 20 minutes. A little more or less depending on your oven temperature. Check it at around 18 minutes.

When the muffins cool slightly the remove from pan and place on a cooling rack.

ENJOY!