And the muffin Madness continues....

This week Jess is in town from Iowa and, and normally we head out to brunch.  But this time Jess decided to help me on the quest for the perfect muffin.  She even brought her own favorite recipe for us to try.

Marcus – ready for some muffin action

In prep for the continued challenge I bought all new organic ingredients this week in a trip to Whole Foods with Marcus.  So an all new week, all new provisions, and a new recipe.

Jess Finding the recipe and sending it to me

One of the nice things about having Jess around is that she keeps Marcus busy while I bake.  This is a pretty rare treat, so I really appreciate her.  Jess read off the ingredients and I mixed away.  We had one little miscommunication when I added the oil directly into the dry mix instead of pre-mixing it with the other liquids. I am not sure how this impacted the end result, but just a note for the future that I should always read the entire directions before starting on anything.   Also, per Jess's instructions, we only made half of the crumble mix and that was plenty.  The entire recipe would add a lot of waste – or a lot more sugar to the final product.

Ready to go in the oven

Marcus being entertained

Fresh from the oven

Review:

The muffins were very yummy and very decadent.  They did not rise enough, but I am beginning to thing that is more about me than about the actual recipe.  I am looking for a solution to that problem.  I think that I will make these muffins again because they would make a great treat when guests are visiting or for a shower or something like that.  They are also really pretty with the crumble on top.  They are a bit too sweet for Marcus and me to make on a more frequent basis.

Recipe:   To Die for Blueberry Muffins

Ingredients:
   
      Muffin batter:

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup milk



This muffin tasted far better than it looks!

• 1 cup fresh blueberries

     Crumb Topping:

• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup better, cubed
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions:

1. Preheat over to 400 degrees F. Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners.
2. Combine all dry muffin ingredients.  Place vegetable oil into a 1 cup measuring cup; add the egg, and enough milk to fill the cup.  Mix this with dry mixture.  Fold in blueberries.  Fill muffin cups to the top, and sprint with crumb topping mixture.
3. To make crumb topping; Mix together all ingredients.  Mix with fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking.
4. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in preheated over, or  until done.

Here is a link to the website that originally posted this recipe: To Die for Blueberry Muffins

Here are some tips I have picked up now from reading lots of websites, recipes, and experience:

• Save some of your dry mix and roll your blueberries in them.  That will prevent them from sinking to the bottom.
• Bake the muffins on the lowest shelf to give them a better chance of raising – I still need to check this one out (maybe next week).
• Make sure that you do not under or over mix your batter – this will also cause them not to rise.
• Check your baking powder to make sure it is not old.

Until the next time!