Black&Blueberry Muffins

Sometimes I look around my refrigerator and it is excessive how many cartons of berries I find.  Does one person really need two cartons of blueberries, two cartons of blackberries, and a carton of strawberries to boot?
 
No, of course not, but when it is finally spring and the berries are gorgeous and tasty, I feel the need to horde them.  Which, of course, is absurd.

On the upside, it leads me to all sorts of new ways to use them, like these yogurt-based berry muffins.

The muffin itself is not too sweet (in fact, next time I might add some decorators sugar to the top), and the crumb is not fluffy like cake, and not dense like bread, but somewhere nicely in between.  The lemon zest also adds a nice brightness.

All in all, at least one way out of an excessive berry crisis.

As ever, these muffins are so easy to make.  Begin by rubbing the lemon zest into the sugar, and then whisking the sugar with the other dry ingredients.  Now,

toss the berries with a tablespoon of those dry ingredients, to keep them from sinking to the bottom.

Time for the wet ingredients, including good yogurt.
 
Whisk them together in a big measuring cup.
 
Make a well and add them to your dry ingredients, mixing until not quite incorporated.
 
Then toss in the berries, and mix gently until everything is just incorporated.

Ice-cream scoop them into the muffin tins.

Bake until the berries are oozing and you can't stand how delicious the air smells.

Let them cool in the tin for about five minutes.

Then remove to a wire rack, and enjoy the benefits of making the most (and then some) of spring!

Black & Blue Berry Muffins (adapted from joyofbaking)
Ingredients:
1/2 cup granulated white sugar
1 tsp lemon zest
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups fresh or frozen blueberries and/or blackberries (and/or raspberries) [don't defrost if frozen]
1 cup plain yogurt (regular or low fat [I would go for regular])
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/4 cup saffron, canola, or corn oil [I would go for saffron]
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
decorator's sugar (optional)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375. Butter or line 12 muffin cups with paper liners.

In a medium bowl, rub the lemon zest into the sugar with your fingertips, until moist and fragrant.  Whisk the lemon-sugar together with the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Remove 1 tablespoon of the dry ingredients and toss them with the berries.

In a measuring cup, whisk together the yogurt, egg, oil, and vanilla extract.

Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients, and add the wet ingredients.  With a rubber spatula, mix until almost combined.  Gently stir in the berries, until the ingredients are just combined.

Using an ice-cream scoop (or spoon), fill the muffin cups with the batter.  Sprinkle each with some decorator's sugar [optional].  Place in the oven and bake for about 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Transfer to a wire rack and let cool for about five  minutes, before removing from pan.

Perfect for Spring and Summer: Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

I love when you make something for the first time, and you realize you have a 'classic' on your hands: something you will make again and again.

These lemon-poppy seed muffins are just like that.
The flavor is perfect: not too sweet, but oh so lemony. And the texture... dry muffins are the bane of my muffin existence, so when I find muffins, like these(!), that come out perfectly moist, I get rather excited. The poppy seeds also add a nice hint of crunch.

They are, of course, a cinch to make. Start by melting some butter, and setting it aside to cool. (Since you don't have to wait for the butter to come to room temperature, these are something you can make 'on the fly').
Get your sugar and lemon zest together.
Now... for a brilliant part: rub the zest and sugar together with your fingers, until aromatic.
Brilliant, Dorie Greenspan!
Add the other dry ingredients to the lemon-sugar concoction.
In a measuring cup, whisk together the butter, lemon juice, vanilla, eggs, and (the key to the moisture) sour cream.
Make a well, and pour the dry ingredients into the wet.
Stir until almost just combined,
and add in the poppy seeds.
Stir until just combined. Its okay if there are lumps.
Scoop the batter into your muffin tins.
Bake 18-20 minutes.
Remove to a rack to cool.
At this point, you have two options:
a) Make a glaze (powdered sugar and lemon)
It looks pretty and gives it a nice zing.
b) Gobble them up as is.
(I think, on the whole, b) is my preference, but a) makes them a little fancier).

Whatever you do... enjoy!

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins (from Baking: From My Home to Your by Dorie Greenspan)
Ingredients: 2/3 cup sugar
Grates zest and juice of 1 lemon
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup sour cream
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 tablespoons poppy seeds

For the icing:
1 cup confectioner's sugar
2-3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Directions: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Butter or spray 12 molds in a regular-size muffin tin or fit the molds with paper muffin cups. Place the muffin pan on a baking sheet.*

In a large bowl, rub the sugar and lemon zest together with your fingertips until the sugar is moist and the fragrance of the lemon is strong. Whisk in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a large glass measuring cup, whisk the sour cream, eggs, vanilla, lemon juice, and melted butter together until well blended. Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients and, with the whisk or a rubber spatula, gently but quickly stir to blend. Don't worry about being through-- a few lumps are better than overmixing the batter. Stir in the poppy seeds. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups.

Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until the tops are golden and a thin knife inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for 5 minutes before carefully removing each muffin from its mold. Cool the muffins completely on the rack before icing them.

To make the icing: Put the confectioner's sugar in a small bowl and add about 1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice. Stir with a spoon to moisten the sugar, then add enough additional lemon juice, a dribble at a time, to get an icing that is thin enough to drizzle from the tip of the spoon. You can then drizzle lines of icing over the tops of the muffins entirely, the better to get an extra zap of lemon.
*Don't forget this part! I nearly did. It helps the muffins not get overly brown.

Lovely Raspberry-Dark Chocolate Muffins

Lovely, no?
But, wait...
it gets lovelier.

And even lovelier.
Yes, you are staring at muffin perfection. Really, though, how could you possibly go wrong with a muffin dedicated to celebrating the marriage of dark chocolate and raspberries?

But, let me tell you the key to success: use good dark chocolate. In fact, whenever you have a recipe calling for chocolate chips, if you use good dark chocolate, all of a sudden your cookie or muffin went from good to downright impressive. And all it took was a good decision on your behalf.

So, use good dark chocolate: either a high quality dark chocolate bar (you know, the kind you would eat by itself), or Ghiradelli 60% Cacao chips (they are by far the best chips out there). This time, I went for the chips.
And, some good raspberries don't hurt either.
To make the muffins, start by combining your dry ingredients. Then, add in the chocolate chips and mix them around. Next, add in the raspberries, and gently mix them around.
Make a well, and pour in your melted butter and wet ingredients.
Mix until just combined.
(And, as if I needed another reason to love these muffins: the vanilla aroma from this batter evoked some very lovely memories in me of making muffins when I was growing up.)

Use your ice cream scoop,
and fill each muffin cup.
Bake for 18-20 minutes. And, be warned, your house is going to smell delicious.
Cool for 5 minutes, before taking them out of the tin. And, then...
Enjoy some loveliness.

Raspberry-Dark Chocolate Muffins (adapted from joyofbaking.com)
Ingredients:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cups granulated white sugar
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon
3/4 cup dark chocolate chips or chunks*
1 1/4 cup raspberries (fresh or frozen (not defrosted))

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375. Butter or line your muffin tin with paper liners.

In a large measuring cup, whisk together the eggs, milk, and vanilla.

In another large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Stir in the chocolate. Gently stir in the raspberries. With a rubber spatula fold into the dry ingredients the melted butter and wet ingredients. Stir until just combined. Do not overmix.

Evenly fill the muffin cups, using an ice cream scoop. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clear, about 18-20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool for about 5 minutes before removing from the pan.

*If you are using a bar of chocolate, just cut it up into chunks. It takes two minutes, and it is absolutely worth it.

Blueberry Muffins, aka Why Canola Oil is the Bane of My Baking Existence

My obsession with blueberries this summer knows no limits.
But, just look at that gorgeous berry, bursting with goodness? How could I resist?

While this story ended happily with these delicious blueberry muffins,
there was darkness before there was light.

And the villain? Canola oil.

I will not mince words here: I think canola oil ruins baked goods. There, I said it. But, I can back it up. I made two batches of these blueberry muffins. The first ones were with canola oil and as soon as I bit into one, I had this gross vegetably taste in my mouth. And, as I was spitting the muffin out, I flashed back to another bad muffin I once made that had an equally vegetably taste: pumpkin muffins too gross to blog about. I rushed to compare recipes, and I soon discovered the culprit, with its insidious vegetably-muffin-ruining-flavor: canola oil.

To test my theory that canola oil is the devil, I made a second batch of these blueberry muffins, swapping out canola oil for safflower oil. And the second batch was delightful. Everything you want a blueberry muffin to be.

The scientific conclusion from this test:
Okay, now that I have ranted, time to tell you about this gorgeous blueberry muffins. They are really lovely little muffins: not too sweet, and with a slightly cake-y texture. But the lemon, oh the lemon, makes them perfect.
(Just looking at them you know they are best friends)

These muffins are a cinch to make. You don't even need two bowls: just one bowl and a liquid measuring come. How great is that? To start, combine your dry ingredients with the zest of one lemon.
Next, in a large measuring cup, mix together your not-canola oil (I used safflower), buttermilk, vanilla, and egg. Set aside.
Now, add those wonderful blueberries to the dry ingredients.
And fold them in lightly.
Then, make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and pour in your liquid ingredients. The well helps you make sure all the dry ingredients, even the pesky ones on the bottom, get incorporated.
Fold everything until just incorporated. As ever, no overmixing unless you like tough muffins.
Now, bust out your muffin tin's best friend: the ice cream scoop.
Scoop the batter into the muffin tins, so each tin is full.
Pop them in the oven for 20 minutes.
And!
Get ready to love what you just made!

Buttermilk Blueberry Muffins (from joyofbaking.com)
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup granulated white sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
Zest of one lemon or orange
1 egg, lightly beaten
3/4 cup buttermilk
2/3 cup safflower oil (not canola oil)
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries*

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375.** Position rack in center of oven. Butter or spray a muffin tin. Set aside.

In a large measuring cup, whisk together the egg, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla. Set aside.

In another large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and lemon zest. Gently fold in the berries. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients. With a rubber spatula fold in the wet ingredients and stir only until the ingredients are combined.

Fill each muffin cup almost full of batter, using two spoons or an ice cream scoop. Place in oven and bake until toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clear, about 20 minutes.*** Transfer to a wire rack and let cool for about 5 minutes before removing from pan.

*Raspberries, strawberries, or blackberries would also do.
**Since I have a non-stick muffin tin, I lowered the temperature to 350 on the first batch. But, this was a bad idea, as the muffins didn't get very golden on top. So, for the second batch, I had it at 375, and they turned out much better.
***If you are using frozen berries, it might take a little longer.