Berry burst muffins

A great muffin base is even better with loads of berries!

I am completely infatuated with muffins. Sweet, savoury, cheesy, fruity, crunchy, warm, cold…I love ‘em all. I’ve shared a few of my favourites on this blog, like banana, caramel-apple, date square and even savoury frittata muffins, and now I have a new one to add to the lineup. It was inspired by a trip to the Farmers’ Market this weekend, where I couldn’t resist the many pints of perfect local berries on display. I chose blueberry and strawberry as my feature flavours but you could easily use raspberries, blackberries or even cranberries too. You could also use frozen berries or even fruit jam in a pinch. We ate the whole batch in a day but these muffins would freeze beautifully.

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup (75 mL) butter, softened
• 2/3 cup (150 mL) brown sugar
• 3/4 cup (175 mL) milk
• 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 mL) vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups (500 mL) flour
• 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 mL) salt
• 4 teaspoons (20 mL) baking powder
• 3/4 cup fresh mixed berries (halve or quarter large berries)
• 1 teaspoon (5 mL) ground cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons (30 mL) white sugar

Method

• Line 12 muffin tins (look for parchment paper liners – they are fantastic) and set aside.
• Preheat oven to 375F.
• In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and brown sugar until smooth and fluffy.
• Add the milk, vanilla and eggs and beat for a minute or two.
• Combine the flour, salt and baking powder and add to the butter mixture all at once.
• Beat just until the flour mixture is completely damp (don’t worry about the lumps).
• Fill the muffin tins 1/3 full with this mixture (about a heaping tablespoon/18 mL per tin).
• Place a heaping spoonful of fruit on top of the batter then fill tins with remaining batter.
• Combine the cinnamon and sugar and sprinkle on top of the muffins.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 18 – 20 minutes until golden brown.
• Remove and let cool on a rack for a few minutes before devouring.

Makes 12 irresistible, large muffins.