Here we are in the dog days of February and most of us are tired and sick and not in much of a mood to cook. The grass and mud are starting to show up, though and spring will be here soon!
Meanwhile, I have a wicked muffin recipe that will cheer you up and remind you of those warm, beautiful summer days and maybe of friendly blueberry fights.
Many New Brunswickers take a job raking blueberries or picking strawberries in local fields over their high school summers and will recall coming home with blue shoes and pant legs and maybe a free box or two of freshly picked berries.
Each year, I go out in the woods and pick ice cream containers of blueberries leftover from our local bear’s breakfast, as well as elderberries, gooseberries, and bushels of rhubarb from the garden. Along the dirt road where my family’s hobby farm is located there are long vines of blackberries and raspberries growing on the fences and all over the trees. Wild strawberries (super tasty, but very small) are a lucky find along the trails grown over in my back woods.
Some of these get eaten straight away, but others are washed, dried and frozen for the winter months when fruit prices skyrocket. This is the perfect time of year to pull out some of those frozen berries and toss them into this delicious muffin base.
The Nothing Muffin
Ingredients:
1cup all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup 2% (or higher) milk or buttermilk
1/4 cup melted butter or margarine
1 egg
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 375.
Stir together dry ingredients in large bowl.
Add melted butter and beaten egg to milk in small-medium bowl.
Add liquid ingredients to dry, stirring only to moisten
Stir in 1 1/2- 2 cups of anything else you have on the shelf: frozen or fresh berries and/or apple chunks, chocolate chips, nuts, etc.
Drop spoonfuls of batter into greased or muffin cupped muffin tins.
Bake at 375 for 15-20min.
*These muffins also freeze well. Just put in airtight plastic freezer bags and when you want to eat them, allow to thaw or place in 350 oven for 10 minutes for “freshly” baked muffins!
*From Muffin Mania by Cathy Prange & Joan Pauli (Fairway Press, Kitchener, Ontario: 1982).
