Being a serious home baker for over 25 years, I’ve picked up my fair share of handy tips. And some of my favorites center around muffins.
Specifically, berry muffins.
I love muffins filled with fresh berries – what I never loved was how mushy they would get during baking.
No more.
And I love having warm, freshly baked muffins to serve my family even on the busiest weekday mornings. What I never loved was having to get up at the crack of dawn to make them, only to have most left over (and eventually thrown out).
No more.
Here are some of my tried-and-true baking tips for berry muffins – with no soggy berries, and the secret to making one – or one dozen – depending on who’s hungry!
Mixed Berry Corn Muffins
adapted from Martha Stewart
1 c. flour, 1 tablespoon removed and set aside
1 c. cornmeal
1 T. baking powder
1 t. salt
1 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 egg
1/3 c. honey
1/3 c. sugar
3/4 c. milk
2 c. assorted berries (if using strawberries, cut to about the same size as the other berries)
If baking right away, pre-heat oven to 425. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper or foil liners.
Whisk flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. In another bowl whisk butter, egg, honey, sugar and milk – fold into the flour mixture. In a third bowl toss the berries with the reserved tablespoon of flour; gently fold the berries into the flour mixture.
Divide the batter evenly in the muffin tin. Bake till golden and a tester comes out clean, about 15 minutes. Remove muffins from tin and cool completely on a wire rack.
If freezing, make batter as instructed above, and divide evenly in your lined muffin tin; place tin in the freezer. Remove frozen muffins from the tin and store in a ziploc bag – label with baking instructions. To bake, simply take out as many muffins as you need and place them directly in your muffin tin (no need to thaw first). If baking fewer than 12 muffins, pour a little water into the empty cups, to evenly distribute heat. Bake as above, adding an additional 5-10 minutes to your baking time.
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