Blackberry Orange Muffins

The past three days have been full of ups and downs.  To sum it up very quickly- a fire, a graduation and family gathering, and a devastating tornado.  Even though my beautiful cousin's graduation was great, the majority of the news was obviously sad and had me feeling very blue today.

These muffins have been cheering me up since I first staring baking them about a month ago.  (Plus I had a big container of fresh blackberries from our Costco trip yesterday.) 



Blackberries!

The first step, creaming butter and sugar, ALWAYS makes me feel better!


Creaming butter and sugar in the KitchenAid. 

 Even though it was pouring down rain, I felt it important enough to make these muffins that Breeze, Dylan and I ran to Braum's to grab an orange.


Orange zest = key ingredient.

 Here is recipe for the muffins:

Adapted from EatLiveRun Blog
makes 12 muffins

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon (plus another little shake)

2 tsp grated orange zest

 2 cups fresh blackberries
1 stick butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat your oven to 375.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, orange zest, baking powder, salt and cinnamon together. Gently add the blackberries and stir so that the berries are covered with flour. Set aside.

Cream the butter and sugar together. Add the eggs, one by one, until thoroughly combined. Add the milk and blend.

Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and toss gently, being careful not to crush the berries. Scoop batter into 12 greased muffin tins sprinkle granulated sugar over the tops.

Bake for 25-30 minutes until the tops are golden. Let cool for five minutes in the tins then pop out and cool completely.





Muffins pre-baking.  Notice the muffin in the top left corner has a pile of sugar on top.  Breeze claimed that one.

I always think it is important to cook/bake with what you have.  I ran out of all purpose white flour tonight so I substituted whole wheat flour and added some extra milk.  It worked out just fine.  The more I experiment, the more comfortable I feel about substituting. 

I wish I could give everyone in Joplin, both those affected by the tornado and those helping, a blackberry orange muffin.  Instead, I will eat this muffin as my late night snack, continue to pray for them, and take my donations to the school tomorrow.

Good night, all.