strawberry or raspberry muffins |
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Of all places, I found the original recipe in People Magazine. Normally, I leave baking to the husband, but this is so simple that even I can make perfectly spectacular muffins. And in under an hour too.
Not too sweet, just the right amount of 'oomph' from the berry/lemon, and good crunch on top. Plus you can make them in about 40 minutes, including baking time. Strawberries make a slightly sweeter muffin. Raspberries work best if you like a little more tang. It is also important to use very firm fruit. Using fully-ripe fruit will go mushy in the baking process. Lastly, rather than doubling the recipe, I prefer to make two separate batches. This seems to distribute the fruit more evenly throughout the muffins. |
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Lemon juice |
1 cup flour
1/2 cup white sugar 1t baking powder 1/4 cup canola (or vegetable) oil 1/3 cup sour cream 1 egg 1t vanilla extract |
Cut the fruit, dump it into bowl #1 and give it a good squeeze of a half a lemon. You don't have to drain the lemon. Mix up very gently and set aside.
Sift together dry ingredients in bowl #2. All ingredients will go into this bowl, so it should be the biggest.
In bowl #3, mix together vanilla, egg, sour cream and oil.
Pour wet (bowl #3) into dry (bowl #2) and mix gently. It will be thick-ish. Add fruit (bowl #1) and mix everything in bowl #2 just until combined, because you don't want to smush the fruit.
Line a muffin pan with 9-10 baking cups. Spoon batter in til about 3/4 full. Fill any empty muffin tin spaces with water.
Bake at 400 degrees for about 20-23 minutes, when a toothpick comes out clean and the tops are golden brown and crunchy-looking.
Let them sit in the muffin pan for a few minutes and then put them on a cooling rack. Taste very good when they are warm out of the oven!
Sift together dry ingredients in bowl #2. All ingredients will go into this bowl, so it should be the biggest.
In bowl #3, mix together vanilla, egg, sour cream and oil.
Pour wet (bowl #3) into dry (bowl #2) and mix gently. It will be thick-ish. Add fruit (bowl #1) and mix everything in bowl #2 just until combined, because you don't want to smush the fruit.
Line a muffin pan with 9-10 baking cups. Spoon batter in til about 3/4 full. Fill any empty muffin tin spaces with water.
Bake at 400 degrees for about 20-23 minutes, when a toothpick comes out clean and the tops are golden brown and crunchy-looking.
Let them sit in the muffin pan for a few minutes and then put them on a cooling rack. Taste very good when they are warm out of the oven!