Whenever my daughter and I walk by the bakery area of our local grocery store, she always says the same thing: “Mommy, can I have a muffin?” For someone who really isn’t into sweets (she turned down a slice of cake for dessert last night. It wasn’t the first time), her love of muffins is staggering and consistent. Sometimes I say yes. Other times I don’t.

This week I said no, instead opting to make my own homemade blueberry muffins.

These aren’t ultra-fancy, over-sized or bathed in butter and sugar, though any of those things can make muffins delightful. Instead, these are just a really good, homemade muffin. Tender, not too sweet, moist … all the important parts.

Sometimes what we really want is ultra-simple: a hug, a thank you, a smile … and the same goes for food. Sometimes, it’s not about the daring combination of flavors but rather the simple ones. The ones that hearken back to the foods we grew up on. The things that are comforting and remind us of home.

This recipe for blueberry muffins definitely falls in that that simple, homemade, comfort food category. They’re easy — just a one-bowl preparation and about 25 minutes in the oven. You’ll be eating them before you know it.

And then, you’ll make ‘em again. Because they really are very good.

P.S. My first book review for the BlogHer Book Club went live yesterday. I read and reviewed The Beach Trees by Karen White, a great book about friendship, family, loyalty and the ties that bind us. It’s a perfect summer read, and one that I really enjoyed. Please hop over and check it out.
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When I was in high school, I had a close group of friends who always hung out together. As groups of friends go, we weren’t always all the best of friends — there were ebbs and flows, just like any relationship. But one thing was certain: when we got together, we all had a ton of fun.

One of those friends was Lisa. She was an honors student who loved English class just like me. We had most of our classes together, except for language — she was a French student, I was a Spanish one. So, we spent a lot of time together in and out of school. When I think of her, one thing that sticks out in my mind is her absolute love of Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins. I smile just thinking about her waxing poetic about their many virtues.

Now me? I don’t think I had eaten — let alone heard of — lemon poppy seed anything before her.  But once I tried them, I discovered that they were every bit as good as she said. However, unlike Lisa, I just couldn’t bear the idea of poppy seeds getting caught in my teeth (call me vain … ok, I probably was). So, I didn’t eat them often.

Last week though, my local supermarket’s bakery had mini muffins on sale and I picked up a package. I’d almost forgotten how much I love the sweet lemony flavor … mmm. But something struck me as I ate them: I still really don’t like the poppy seeds. I could totally do without them, in fact. That got me thinking about how I could have my lemon without the hassle of the seeds …

The answer? Blueberries. I mean, sure, you could make the muffins sans any additions. But what fun would that be?I am sure it would taste perfectly fine without them, but I don’t want fine … I want something that makes you swoon.

And really … lemon and blueberry are two flavors that really go well together. Aren’t they? Well, my kids and I thought so. I think you will too.

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Yesterday, it seemed like it went from relatively warm to downright chilly in no time flat. It’s no wonder people say if you don’t like the weather here, wait five minutes — that is just how it is at this time of year in New England. And if you are unprepared, you can find yourself shivering. (For the record, I was a little unprepared.)

When the weather gets like this, I crave warm, rich, heavier foods that keep you comfy even when the weather is not. This muffin totally fits that bill. It’s a rich combination of coconut and pumpkin, two of my very favorite flavors. The brown sugar makes it pleasantly sweet, but not so sweet that you will have a sugar rush at 8 a.m.

The recipe is pretty easy (most muffins are) and I was able to whip these up on a Friday morning, without missing any deadlines to school drop offs. No, I don’t have any magic elves to help out — just two sweet kids.

Actually, I did happen upon a new method for having the kids help me cook while testing this recipe. In the past, they’ve always pulled chairs to the counter and stood on them, as I did when I was a child. But walking space is at a premium near our counter, so I have been trying something different: mixing up recipes at our table. That allows me the freedom to get and put away ingredients as needed, and I don’t have to worry about anyone tumbling from a chair or getting too close to a hot stove. It’s working for us, and the kids really seem to enjoy it (the cooking and the new method).

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I’ve been going crazy with zests and fresh citrus in my cooking lately. It’s just imparts such vibrant flavor. Whatever it is that you are making becomes more alive with the simple addition of little scrapes of peels.

Really, it’s hard to believe that I was so resistant to using zest until recently. And why? Honestly, I shied away from it because it just seemed like such a tedious thing to do … since I had never tried it. But as it turns out, zesting a lime or a lemon takes but seconds and pays off major taste dividends.

These muffins are heavy on the lime taste and lighter on the coconut, but the coconut still adds a nice richness to the flavor. Make these the night before and heat one up in the morning for a quick, fresh breakfast on the go — and don’t forget to split them in half and slather on the butter. Or eat them at room temperature with a steamy cup of coffee.

Mmm. Read the rest of this entry…

The longer I cook, the more I find that I have certain go-to recipes that are as ingrained in my repertoire as number 2 pencils in a school child’s pencil bag. They are my tried and trues, my favorites, my without-thinking creations. My tried and trues can be made without fuss or muss, because they’ve become my happy cooking habits.

Among those tried and trues is my recipe for raspberry white chocolate muffins. I first had this combination in delicious, but short-lived, raspberry white chocolate scones from Dunkin Donuts about four years ago. I loved the combination and shortly after found the muffin form at Big Y. A few years back, unable to find either the scone or the muffin, I set out to develop my own version . . . this is the result of that. Read the rest of this entry…

Blueberries. Mmm. Fresh picked blueberries. Double mmm.

After picking blueberries yesterday, I knew I had to do something with them immediately for breakfast. So early this morning, I whipped up a batch of blueberry streusel muffins. I’ve made these tasty muffins before, but this time I amped up the flavor with a bit more blueberries and a touch more brown sugar in the streusel. It totally upped the yum factor of these muffins.

Making 12 muffins is a nice idea, but we won’t eat them all before they go stale or worse. I’m sure I am not the only one with this problem. So what I did, and I am trying to do more often, is to freeze a portion of the batch for some other time. Muffins make a great grab and go breakfast, so this will come in handy later. For the meantime, they are in a container, but if you have a limited amount of containers, once frozen, they could be transplanted to a Food Saverbag (and individually wrapped for added convenience.

Much to my surprise, these muffins only used a fraction of my pickings. There are a ton left for other uses. Yay!

A bit about blueberries:
Blueberries are loaded with antioxidants. But, in fact, antioxidants in blueberries vary. Wild blueberries contain more about 50 percent more antioxidants then cultivated blueberries, but both are tops among antioxidant sources. Wild blueberries are smaller and tangier. For this recipe, I used the cultivated ones we picked.

Blueberry Streusel Muffins
yields 12 muffins

Streusel
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tbsp butter, firm

Muffin
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 large egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 cup fresh blueberries, rinsed and drained

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line 12 muffin cups with paper liners.

In a small bowl, prepare the streusel topping. Sift in the flour, brown sugar and cinnamon and then stir to combine well. Next, use two knives crisscrossing to cut the butter into the dry mixture (a pastry blender could alternatively be used as well). Continue combining until mixture is crumbly. Set bowl aside.

In a large bowl, prepare the muffin batter. Whisk together the milk, oil and egg. Stir in flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Batter should be moistened and will still be lumpy, but it’s supposed to be.

Stir in blueberries.

Use a tablespoon to drop batter into the 12 lined muffin cups, dividing equally. Top with about 1 tbsp of the streusel topping each.

Place the pan into the preheated oven and cook for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and transfer to a wire cooling rack immediately.

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This post is for Weekend Herb Blogging (I know, no herbs in this one! But fruits and veggies count too.), a weekly event started by Kalyn of Kalyn’s Kitchen. It’s being hosted this week by Melissa of Cooking Diva. Check that site for a roundup of great recipes on Monday.

Okay, yes. I was supposed to post this two days ago . . . but things got busy. My apologies. The good news is that this week’s Sunday Breakfasts will appear early — on Saturday instead.

The recipe is based on one from Barefoot Contessa at Home by Ina Garten (yes, the Barefoot Contessa again). The original recipe (Tri-Berry Muffins) called for blueberries, raspberries and strawberries, but I decided to take advantage of quite ripe leftover banana in my fruit stash and switch it up a bit. Rather than a bold banana taste, these have a light banana flavoring that doesn’t overwhelm the blueberries or any other bit of the muffin.

And, since these muffins contain a good deal of anti-oxidant rich blueberries, they are a perfect submission for Sweetnicks’ ARF/5-A-Day Tuesdays. Check out Cate’s site tonight for other great antioxidant rich recipes.

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What is Sunday Breakfasts?
Breakfast is daunting for me, to say the least. Pancakes burn, eggs dry out, sausage turns to rubber … it’s a curse. But one I want to reverse with practice. But I am working hard to reverse the curse. Each Sunday for the next few months, I will be posting a breakfast – including the hits and misses. And when it’s all over, I will hopefully have conquered my kitchen in the morning.

So. It’s been a few days. This whole cookbook writing sure makes it hard to keep on top of everything. But the stress is worth it, even if it means I don’t post every single day. But I am working on balancing everything so I can get back to nearly daily posts.

Anyway, since the cookbook features dinners, I will probably focus more on breakfast, lunch and dessert here until the writing is completed. I don’t want to share all the new recipes I am developing before the book comes out! So there is a recipe here . . . it’s for Raspberry White Chocolate Muffins . . . I have revisited a recipe I first posted months ago and made a few small alterations . . . still lovin’ it! I also discovered that a sprinkling of red decorative sugar makes the tops that lovely shade of pink you see (apply it before baking).

On the meat-free front, I have come to respect and realize just how imperative it is that I take my lunch to work everyday. Our cafeteria is a vegetarian’s nightmare. Many days, the only meat-free offering is the salad bar and one soup. Meanwhile, there are at least six other offerings for the non-meat-free world. No wonder my colleague orders out so much! Seriously, I just don’t understand the logic of the whole thing. How could you not offer at least a few entrees everyday for the veg crowd? I find it hard to believe that there aren’t enough vegetarians in the park to justify that.

Anyway, the plethora of meat offerings certainly doesn’t help my resolve either. I am beginning to fiend for meat. I would love a juicy cheeseburger, maybe some baby back ribs, and a loaded hot dog. But that is the whole point of sacrificing, right? Four weeks and one day until Easter (April 8, this year). Four LONG more weeks. Already, so it’s a little pathetic that it’s only been about two and a half weeks since Lent began and I am already complaining. But when you are cooking all sorts of new and exciting meat dishes, it’s only natural . . . I think. At least there will be a good chunk of vegetarian recipes in the book as a result.

And rest assured I will retest every meaty recipe after Lent, to taste it for myself.

1 egg
1 cup milk
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup frozen raspberries, partially melted
1/2 cup white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners.

In a large bowl, beat the egg. Beat in milk and butter until well combined. Stir in flour, sugar, baking powder and salt until just moistened. Gently fold in vanilla, raspberries and white chocolate.

Spoon evenly into the muffin cups. Bake for 22-26 minutes, until tops are golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center pulls out clean.

Let muffins cool until they can be touched.

Topping:
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup sugar

Place butter and sugar into separate bowls.

Dip each muffin top first in butter and then in sugar.

I started this post more days ago then I want to admit. But believe me, it’s worth the wait.

When I made these muffins, they met with a reaction I didn’t anticipate: elation. My husband was simply elated when he told me how great my muffins were. How cool is that??? He raved and raved and shared with his boss who raved and raved some too…

A good blueberry muffin melts in your mouth. It’s not so sweet that it leaves your teeth craving a good Crest fix, nor is it so dense that you grab for any beverage available to help wash it down. The inside should be as delectable as the muffin top and it should be littered with blueberries in every bite.

What can I say? I have lofty expectations. This extends to everything in my life, from myself to my career to my family. I expect things to meet my perfect ideal and when they don’t it’s devastating. Fortunately, I rarely allow that to happen.

Back to the muffin, I’m hard pressed to locate a bakery or manufacturer who still adheres to these standards in my area. The manufacturers seem to have all bought into the idea that muffins need to be sweetened like a cupcake and dense like a scone. Bakeries around here seem to lose site of the light and fluffy texture that characterizes a good muffin. Muffins are often too large for the portion conscious eater as well.

So I did what I do best: found a recipe that meets my expectations. Hell, I would go so far as to say it exceeds my expectations. It’s from an old standard in my cucina bella, Betty Crocker’s Cookbook. Certainly, not every recipe in the book is top notch. In fact, there are times when I curse myself for still holding onto it as a staple. But for classic recipes like this, it’s golden.

Streusel
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 tsp – 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tbsp butter, firm

Muffin
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 large egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup fresh blueberries, rinsed and drained

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line 12 muffin cups with paper liners.

In a small bowl, prepare the streusel topping by combining the flour, brown sugar and cinnamon. Next, use two knives crisscrossing to cut the butter into the dry mixture. Continue combining until mixture is crumbly. Set bowl aside.

In a large bowl, prepare the muffin batter by whisking together the milk, oil and egg. Stir in flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Batter should be moistened and will still be lumpy, but it’s supposed to be.

Stir in blueberries.

Use a tablespoon to drop batter into the 12 lined muffin cups, dividing equally. Top with about 1 tbsp of the streusel topping each.

Place the pan into the preheated oven and cook for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and transfer to a wire cooling rack immediately.