Blackberry Muffins
This is my third blackberry recipe attempting to make the most out of some wild blackberries I was given by a friend. I know this is going to sound like I’m exaggerating, but these WILD blackberries are as sweet as candy, no tartness whatsoever. I’m convinced, and you will be too, great ingredients, makes for great baking. I only hope you have friends as generous as mine. Enjoy the recipe.
Adapted from and inspired by a recipe in The Williams-Sonoma Baking Book, by Chuck Williams
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Topping
1/3 C (2 1/3 oz/65 g) granulated sugar
3 T (1 oz/26 g) all-purpose flour
Grated zest of ½ lemon
2 T (28 g) unsalted butter, melted
1/3 C (1 ½ oz/45 g) pecans, finely chopped
Muffins
2 C (10 oz/283 g) all-purpose flour
¾ C (5 ¼ oz/148 g) granulated sugar
2 t (8 g) baking powder
½ t (2 g) baking soda
½ t (1 g) ground cinnamon
Grated zest of ½ lemon
¼ t salt
1 large egg, beaten, room temp
5 T (2 ½ oz/75 g) unsalted butter, melted
1 C (8 fl oz/250 ml) buttermilk, room temp
2 C (8 oz/250 g) fresh or frozen, unthawed blackberries
Place oven rack in middle position and heat to 375° F (190° C). Spray a standard 12 muffin cup pan with nonstick baking spray with flour. Set aside.
Topping – In small bowl, whisk together sugar, flour, and lemon zest. Stir in melted butter until mixture is crumbly. Add pecans and stir to combine. Set aside.
Muffins – In large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, lemon zest, and salt. Make well in center and add egg, melted butter, and buttermilk. Stir just until evenly moistened. Batter will be slightly lumpy. Using spatula, gently fold in berries just until evenly distributed while being careful not to crush any.
Spoon batter into each muffin cup, filling to rim. Sprinkle each muffin with topping, dividing it evenly among muffins.
Bake muffins until golden and tops spring back when touched, 25 to 30 minutes. A toothpick inserted into center of muffin should come out clean. Rotate pan one half turn midway through baking. Transfer pan to wire rack and let cool for 15 minutes before removing muffins. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Makes 12 muffins
Click here for Baker's Notes
18 Aug 18 – Still using the blackberries from Roger and Carol. Followed recipe as written with the following changes. Used 1 ½ (divided between topping and batter) dehydrated lemon zest. I did re-hydrate the zest before using. I used the Li’Oscar (mini food processor) to chop pecans and did not toast pecans. The topping came together nicely and was the perfect texture/consistency. Nice and crumbly. Used the medium glass bowl for topping ingredients and the large one for batter prep. Both were the correct size for one batch of muffins. I rinsed the berries with cold water and put in freezer bag along with several paper towels to wick away moisture. The batter evenly divided filled each muffin cup just short of the rim. The topping quantity nicely covered muffin tops. Baked in island oven on convection at 350° F for 30 minutes. That was about correct. The tops turned golden and the texture when cooled was right. Muffins crowned and slightly ran over cup rims. Next time I would spray muffin tin surface with non-stick spray to minimize sticking from crown run over. I cooled muffins in tin for 10 minutes before flipping over to remove from pan. They all came out but were still very fragile. Recommend cooling 15 to 20 mins to let them firm up more before removing. The streusel topping made checking doneness difficult. The toothpick was coming out clean but touching the centers seemed a little mushy. The muffins had good flavor, the berries were nicely distributed (didn’t sink to bottom) and the lemon was noticeable but not too strong. The streusel topping tasted great and gave the muffins a nice crunchy texture. Good shelf after 2 days.