Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Mixed-Berry Muffins and a Blog-a-birthday

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Have you ever noticed that time has a sneaky way of moving forward? Like one day, it's Thanksgiving, and the next day, you wake up and it's the middle of February and your blog has turned two years old? No? Well, that just totally happened to me. And to celebrate, I decided to bake blueberry and raspberry muffins.

12-06-19


I'm not really strict about my breakfast being, well, breakfast. I don't mind a cinnamon bun or a leftover slice of cake with a glass of milk. Sure, I'd like to pretend that I eat healthy granola with skim milk as my first meal of the day, but most of the times, that just doesn't happen, so after a while of it not happening, I just embraced indulging myself a little in the mornings. I hear indulging yourself is the new black this season (and if it isn't... well, it SHOULD be!)

12-06-18


These muffins are a perfect little indulgence. They are delightfully soft, lightly sweet, and I can see them being a breakfast companion as well as taking center stage as mini-muffins for a brunch or a shower party. They are certainly pretty and festive, perfect slightly warm and with a tall glass of milk, and they make me smile in the mornings. Next week - next week I'll go back to yogurts and granolas and fruit - but for now, during my blog-a-birthday week, I can't think of a better way to start my day than a warm little nugget of cake studded with sweet berries and aromatic with vanilla.

12-06-092


Mixed-Berry Muffins
adapted from the Magnolia Bakery Cookbook
makes 12-16 muffins

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 cups buttermilk (or whole milk)
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups mixed berries (I used blueberries and raspberries)

Preheat oven to 350F and prepare 12-16 muffin cups.

Combine all the dry ingredients in a large bowl and whisk together. Make a well in the center and stir in the wet ingredients until just combined (do not overmix). The batter will be lumpy, but that's ok.

Toss the berries with a little bit of flour, just to coat, and gently fold into the batter. Divide between the muffin cups and bake for 20-30 minutes, until the tops are very lightly golden and a cake tester inserted in the middle comes out with moist crumbs attached. Do not overbake

18 comments:

Rambling Tart said...

How lovely! HAPPY BLOG BIRTHDAY! :-) I simply adore your vanilla bottle. :-)

Dewi said...

Happy Blog Anniversary Irene. Having muffin to celebrate the even is so perfect. Love those cute bowls, and love the vanilla. Berries are of course my favorite fruit for baking.

Anonymous said...

Happy blog birthday! These little muffins are so cute :).

Erica Lea said...

Congratulations on reaching two years! I have just recently become a following, but I'm liking what I see! These muffins look scrumptious -- your photos are lovely! I especially like the grouping of the vanilla & bowls.

Manggy said...

That is a beautiful bottle of vanilla - and even prettier muffins :) Happy blog birthday!

Monica H said...

These sure are pretty and delicious looking. I've been wanting to try Ina's mixed berry muffins but I might try these instead!

Happy blogoversary!

Shoshana said...

Happy Blog Birthday. I just found your blog so missed most of the first two years but look forward to the next.

ChichaJo said...

Happy Blog birthday! I say indulge at breakfast! It's the most important meal of the day :)

Su-yin said...

Happy Blog Birthday! :) Your muffins look gorgeous, great photos!

El said...

Happy anniversary! This is beautiful and the muffins look absolutely scrumptious. Here's to another great year!

Anonymous said...

Happy blog anniversary! I made these muffins this morning and they were so...perfect! A few muffins with a cold glass of milk made my morning. Could not get any better than that. Thanks so much for posting this recipe!

Irene said...

Oh, I'm so glad you liked them! I really did and I'm always happy to know that others did too. By the way, I visited your blog and your family is beautiful!

Simones Kitchen said...

Happy blog-o-versary!!! Two years! Wow... doesn't time fly? These muffins look perfect to celebrate just about anything really. Beautiful.

Mrs. M. said...

Happy blog birthday! Those muffins look delicious and cakey.

Maria said...

I haven't baked muffins in a long time. I better give these a try! Happy blog birthday!

Anonymous said...

What gorgeous photos-these muffins look absolutely delicious!

Anonymous said...

These muffins look good! Would it be possible to replace buttermilk with plain yogurt?

Hannah said...

hi these look amazing!
could i use frozen blackberries instead?
and does using whole milk affect the cooking time?

love your delicious food :)