24 February 2011

Spiced Blueberry Muffins and Tea


More on the summertime rant ... I went to visit a friend's mother yesterday and shared lunch and chatter in her sunny little apartment.  As I made my way home, I kept thinking how fun it is, sharing tea and a sweet something with friends.

Today, I found myself taking inventory of my freezer contents and what did I find? Perfect wild blueberries, frozen at the height of summer - last August.  They were calling to me to make something, anything with them, so muffins and tea felt just right. These muffins, though, would be spicy muffins - light brown and spicy muffins that resemble a mild gingerbread - muffins that would have a bit of lemon and honey flavored butter for spreading on them - muffins baked in the sweetest little muffin cups - muffins from heaven!



A bit later, I will share a pot of tea and these muffins with my special friend and we will recall how we climbed through the green canopy to the top of Gap Mountain, came up out of the shady trail to the summit, and picked high bush blueberries while the birds chittered and the breeze rustled the shrubs and grasses.


God, thank you for memories of high summer ... and thank you for freezers so that I can taste it right here, right now ... in February.


Blueberry Gingered Muffins

Ingredients:

1 c. light brown sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 c. canola oil
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp ginger
2 c. all purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
3 heaping tbsp. vanilla yogurt
1 heaping c. frozen or fresh wild blueberries

Making the Muffins:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a muffin pan with muffin cups.

2. Mix the brown sugar and eggs in a deep mixing bowl.

3. Add the canola oil and stir briskly to incorporate.

4. Add the vvanilla, nutmeg, and ginger and stir well.

5. Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a measuring cup and add all at once to the egg mixture.

6. Stir the mixture just enough to begin to bring the dough together and then, add the yogurt and stir to make a thick dough. Don't overmix.

7. Fold in the blueberries, being careful not to break them up.

8. Use two soup spoons to scoop the muffin dough into the muffin cups.

9. There is enough batter for 12 regular-sized muffins.

10. Bake for 20 minutes in a pre-heated oven and then turn the broiler on to make the tops golden. Watch the muffins carefully , as you brown the tops!

11. Cool in the muffin pan for just a few minutes and then remove them to a platter for finishing the cooling process ... eat some of them warm with whipped lemon scented butter.







12 comments:

  1. Sprout Sara24/2/11 3:03 PM

    I made muffins this weekend. They were very-berry-everything-you-can-find-in-the-freezer muffins. They had cranberries, raspberries, and blueberries. The cranberries were dried, so I let them soak in lemon juice before I added them. And I added cinnamon, lemon zest, and vanilla extract. With a whole wheat flour and wheat germ batter. Next time I will go more halves-ies with the white flour to wheat flour, but they were pretty tasty!

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  2. What a nice post Susan. I can't wait until summer when all the fruit is in season. Neat blueberry muffin recipe. It nice to have something a little different than the good old Jordon Marsh Muffin recipe.

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  3. Mmmm...the cupcakes are smelling so gud, and spiced with ginger makes it more perfect. Liked the combo and will bake my batch today only, great post as always !

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  4. I want to go berry picking! That sounds so wonderful! From all of your stories, it must be gorgeous where you live. I love the muffin cups and the tea pot too, but mostly I just want to eat those muffins! Mmm, they look heavenly with that butter spread on :-)

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  5. This look so nice. I have a freezer full of berries. It's great to have new recipes to try. I hope you have a great day. Blessings...Mary

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  6. I would love to share your muffins with you with a nice pot of tea. I've been thinking of blueberry muffins lately, it's been so long since I've made them. Summer is just around the corner (kind of)! :o)

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  7. I made blueberry muffins monday morning for my mom while she was visiting! They were delightful. And I must say, that is a great tea pot! I've never seen one like that. Teapots are a weakness of mine, so far I have four. My favorite one broke a while back, so sad. Your summer posts have been a breath of fresh air!

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  8. So lucky of you to have wild blueberries! These muffins look absolutely fantastic!

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  9. @ all - Come visit anytime and I will make us muffins and tea!

    @ Sara - Email me that muffin recipe and I will play with it! Nothing like another good muffin recipe!

    @ Audra - I love teapots too! I have been finding cool ones on Ebay ... for a song! I love Ebay!

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  10. freezer finds make the best mystery ingredients don't they? Like finding an old recipe and thinking... 'hey I must make that' ... your muffins looks so lovely and traditional... and your very own wild blueberries, how lucky are you?

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  11. I was digging through the freezer this morning whilst making up the grocery list. My "find" was a couple of andouille sausage links. Yeah! Just in time for Mardi Gras and a good gumbo. Ocra won't be local, but it will taste so good. Hope you don't mind the free association comments. I never seem to be quite on topic :-)

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  12. @ Kay - What's a little free association between friends?! Actually, that gumbo sounds like an excellent idea! Laissez les bon temps roulez, cherie!

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