Blueberry Lavender Muffins

Hey, friends!

It's been a while since I've shared a recipe (or anything, for that matter) on here, but life kind of kicked me in the teeth over the past couple months (ahem, years), however this summer we are enjoying some real quiet and relaxation, so I'm trying some new things.

Add to that, that we're growing blueberries for the first time, and this morning I made blueberry lavender muffins that are pretty delicious, if you ask me. It made it extra special that I could use our homemade vanilla extract, homegrown lavender, and eggs from my neighbor. How delightful!

But don't worry, there's no story coming, there is no need to look for the "Jump to recipe" button, I got you. *wink*

This recipe makes 12 muffins.

Topping:

1/2 cup (100 g) dark muscovado (you can also use light, or dark brown sugar)

1/2 cup (50 g) oats

1 tsp cinnamon

Muffin batter:

1 3/4 cup (220 g) flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/2/ tsp salt

1/2 - 1 tbsp crushed, dried lavender

1/2 cup (113 g) butter at room temperature

1/2 cup (100 g) sugar

1/4 cup (50 g) dark muscovado

2 large eggs

1/2 cup (120 g) sour cream

2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/4 cup (60 ml) milk at room temperature

1 1/2 cup (approx. 210 g) fresh blueberries

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 215 °C (425 °F). Prep muffin pan - for me, that meant spraying non-stick spray on the pan, then making homemade liners from baking paper (because I really don't like the liners I can find here, no matter what I do, half of whatever I bake sticks to it). 

2. In a medium sized bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and lavender. set aside.

3. Add butter and both sugars into a large mixing bowl, then using the paddle attachment of your standing mixer (you could also use a handheld mixer), cream together for 2 minutes on high-medium speed, scraping off the sides of the bowl as needed.

4. Add eggs in one at a time, on a medium speed, making sure they're incorporated before adding the next one.

5. Next, add the sour cream and vanilla on medium speed, until completely combined.

6. Reduce to low speed, and alternate adding dry ingredients and milk, until fully combined.

7. Remove bowl from standing mixer, and fold in blueberries.

8. Combine the topping ingredients in a separate bowl.

9. Spoon batter into cups until 2/3-3/4 full (I like more bakery style/size muffins, so they're a bit larger), then top with a generous spoonful of the topping.

10. Bake at 215 °C (425 °F) for 5 minutes, and then reduce heat to 175 °C (350 °F) for another 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. (...and by clean, I mean clean of batter, you'll probably get some cooked blueberry on it regardless of doneness, but that's normal.)

11. Allow to sit for a few minutes, but after that, you should definitely treat yourself for a warm muffin! (These muffins stay good sealed, at room temperature for about 3 days. You could also freeze them for later!)

Tips: 

I've often read that tossing your blueberries in flour helps them not sink to the bottom. I did toss mine in flour, but then the muffin I cut open for pictures had them on the bottom mostly... and others that we ate later had them dispersed more evenly. So, I say give it a try, but it doesn't seem fool-proof.

Also, if you don't like the taste of lavender, you can certainly omit it. You can also use nuts instead of oats in your topping.

Enjoy!

Streusel-Topped Peach Muffins

Aren't peaches the bomb?!

They just scream summer! I had a bunch of them sitting in my window, and was dying for a reason to bake with them.

There is a tailor on my new street. I took a duvet cover over to him the other day to have him let out and change the seam (hubby didn't believe me when I told him which size to buy - it was too small). When I asked him how much it would cost, he told me "Oh, nothing. I am just doing this because you are a good neighbor." (Mind you, this is the first time we've met.) I found this beyond charming, but also knew I couldn't leave it at that, so I wanted to bake something for when I went to pick it up.

Enter streusel-topped peach muffins.

Ingredients:

Streusel topping:

1/2 cup (94 grams) all purpose flour

1/2 cup (100 grams) brown sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 cup (55 grams) chilled butter cut into small pieces

Muffin batter:

1/3 cup plus 1 tbsp (90 grams) room temperature butter

3 peaches - peeled and chopped into small pieces (pinky fingernail-sized)

1 1/2 cups (190 grams) all purpose flour 

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

2/3 cup (130 grams) sugar

1 large egg beaten

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup (120 ml) buttermilk (I have also made this with natural drinkable yogurt we can find here in Slovenia. It makes for a slightly denser muffin, but works just fine in a pinch.)

Directions:

1. Heat your oven to 350 F / 175 C.

2. Place muffin liners in your muffin tin (I made these out of baking paper), or spray your muffin tin with non-stick spray.

3. Using the whisk attachment on your mixer (or by using a pastry cutter) incorporate all of the ingredients for your streusel until crumbly (some large buttery chunks are good). Place in fridge until ready to use.

4. In a bowl, whisk (by hand is fine - less dishes) together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

5. Using the paddle attachment on your mixer, cream together the butter and sugar. Beat for about 1 minute.

6. With the mixer still going, add egg and vanilla extract. Beat for another minute.

7. With the mixer still going on a low speed, add half of the flour mixture. Fully incorporate, then add buttermilk. Fully incorporate that, then add second half of buttermilk. Mix until just combined.

8. Remove bowl from mixer, and gently fold in 2/3 of the peach chunks.

9. Spoon about 1 tbsp of batter in each muffin liner. Spoon the leftover peach chunks on top of that evenly between all twelve slots. Cover that with a generous tbsp of streusel topping. Then, fill them up with the remaining batter, and top with remaining streusel topping.

10. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until golden brown on top and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

11. Allow to cool in pan for a few minutes.

I say enjoy them warm, but they also keep for a couple days in an airtight container.

According to my daughter, it is eat-it-off-your-shirt good! I think if you try these, you'll agree! 

Saturn Peach Upside Down Mini Cakes

Honestly, my last few baking attempts have been a bust.  There were fallen and burnt meringues - in the same batch, too much of a new kind of flour and therefore unusable cookie dough... and I'd been feeling a little deflated about my baking efforts. But then I saw this recipe, and  decided to give it a try - I'm so glad I did!

Here's what you'll need:

- muffin pan

- standing mixer

- measuring cups and/or kitchen scale

- some bowls (for measured ingredients and mixing)

Ingredients:

- 1/3 cup room temperature butter, plus 1 tbs separately (90 gr)

- 6 tsp brown sugar (the original called for light, I only had dark - I say baker's choice!)

- 4 Saturn peaches (also known as donut peaches)

- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour (190 gr)

- 1 tsp baking powder

- 1/2 tsp baking soda

- 1/4 tsp salt

- 2/3 cup sugar (130 gr)

- 1 large egg, beaten

- 1 tsp vanilla extract

- 1/2 cup buttermilk (120 ml) (Pinjenec, for any Slovene readers, író for any Hungarian readers)

Directions:

1. Spray nonstick cooking spray in your muffin tin. (I didn't have any, so I used butter - it was fine, but I'll be picking up some nonstick spray for next time.)

2. Preheat oven to 350 F (177 C).

3. Measure out ingredients.

4. Cut 2 1/2 peaches into thinnish slices (you'll need 48 slices), and 1 1/2 peaches into small cubes. 

5. Divide the 1 tbs of butter into 12 pieces, then put one in the bottom of each muffin hole.

6. Sprinkle 1/2 tsp of brown sugar on top of that.

7. Place 4 peach slices in the bottom of each muffin hole.  I put them in kind of a clover shape, but you could change it to 5 slices and make it a flower, or fan them out - however you like.

8. In a bowl, whisk together your dry ingredients - flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

9. Using the paddle attachment on your standing mixer, cream together your sugar and (remaining 1/3 cup) butter.

10. While the mixer is going on a medium low speed, add the vanilla extract and egg.  Beat for 2-3 minutes. Your mixture will become fluffy and lighter in color.

11. While your mixer is going, add half of the flour mixture. Beat for 1 minute.

12. Pour in buttermilk, and beat for another minute. (You may need to pause mixing and scrape down the sides of your mixing bowl.)

13. Add the second half of your flour mixture, and beat until just combined.

14. Remove mixing bowl from mixer. Fold in the peach chunks. 

15. Fill each muffin hole with equal amounts of batter. The original poster used an ice cream scoop, I used the small ladle from my son's kitchen set, haha! 

16. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

17. Remove from oven, allow to cool in tin for 5 minutes, then flip out onto cooling rack. (If yours get a little stuck like mine, gently use a knife to detach them from the side of the muffin tin.)

18. Serve slightly warm with vanilla ice cream, or allow to cool and serve with peaches, powdered sugar, whipped cream... these little cakes are perfect on their own, but also pair well with a "friend".

And there you have it! A peachy-keen Spring or Summer treat!

Streusel Coffee Cake Muffins

So... I have an awful confession to make.  I bake out of a box.  Let me explain- I don't know how to bake, and I don't want to waste the time and ingredients, when there's a chance that it won't turn out right.  But, when you use a box, it always comes out perfect, and I always have everything I need for it.

Not today.  Dan and I were having friends over (why do we always try new things when people will be there to witness it?), and I have been craving coffee cake REALLY BADLY.  And naturally, they HAD to be individual serving sizes- hence the muffinness. :)

So I went on a search for a yummy coffee cake recipe.  Obviously, I turned to pinterest.com.  If you haven't yet discovered this gem of a website, stop reading this (you won't hurt my feelings), and go request an invite.  NOW!  Okay, so I found this recipe from marthastewart.com.  You can't get much better than Martha.  So this one is at marthastewart.com/coffee-cake-muffins.  Based on the comments, I doubled the cinnamon for the streusel, and I didn't have jumbo muffin pans, so I made regular ones, and baked them for 20 minutes.  It made 15 of them.

So these are them:

  I'm a little partial, but I think mine actually look better than Martha's.  :)

Ingredients

• For The Muffins

  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 2 large eggs

• For The Streusel Topping

  • 1 cup packed dark-brown sugar
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour, (spooned and leveled)
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

Directions

1. Prepare streusel topping: In a medium bowl, stir together brown sugar, flour, and salt. With a pastry blender or two knives, cut in butter until mixture resembles large coarse crumbs; refrigerate until ready to use.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare muffins: Place cupcake liners in pan. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and baking soda; set aside.
3. Using a hand-held mixer on medium speed, beat together butter, sour cream, granulated sugar, and vanilla until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until well combined. With mixer on low, beat flour mixture into butter mixture.
4. Divide half the batter among prepared muffin cups. Top with half the streusel mixture, then remaining batter, and top with streusel. Bake 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool in pan 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. 

I was so excited, they came out beautifully!  Very moist, very yummy, the right amount of sweet... perfect!  I think next time I'll top it off with a little more streusel, for that added crunch (I had A LOT of streusel left over).  Very good experience for a first from scratch baking attempt.  Write about them is making me want one.  I think I'll go get one.  Trust me, you want one, go make them! :)