Muffin Mixed Berries

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These are muffins that don’t want to be blogged about. I’ve made them now six or seven times, each batch very much destined for the blog. But this or that got in the way… I’d run out of time before scooping them up into a bag and heading out of town, or they’d simply all disappear by the time I got around to snapping a few shots. Finally, I managed to get some nice photos of the last batch I made a few weeks ago… only to draw a blank when I sat down to write about them. I was quite tempted to simply post the recipe and the photos and say nothing, I was getting so frustrated, but then I ate one of the little fruity buggers and got my revenge.

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The thing is, it’s hardly fair to call these mixed berry muffins “muffins“. They are really more fruit than crumb, which is just the glue to hold all the juicy berry goodness together. I think they really should be called muffin mixed berries. And they were the first recipe I made from Seasonal Kitchen by Michele Cranston, a book I’ve really grown to adore. The beauty is that they are even seasonal in winter (in fact, that’s the section they appear in the book) because they use frozen berries. I’ve started keeping a huge bag of mixed frozen berries in the freezer, and whenever I need a quick idea for breakfast or a road trip, these muffins have become the answer. The only thing I don’t love about the recipe is the oil… it calls for vegetable oil and I think that’s just missing an opportunity for adding flavor. Instead, I’ve started using coconut oil which adds just the teaniest tiniest hint of coconut… not enough that coconut-haters will notice, but enough to give them a little something-something.

Now, quickly, before something comes up again and I don’t finish this post, here is the recipe:

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Mixed Berry Muffins
adapted from Michele Cranston’s Seasonal Kitchen
Makes 12 muffins

1 cup (250g) plain yogurt
3.5 fl oz (100 ml) coconut oil
2 eggs
2 t vanilla extract
2 1/4 c (280g) all purpose flour
2 t baking powder
3/4 c brown sugar
1 3/4 c (250g) frozen mixed berries
raw sugar for sprinkling

Preheat the oven to 350F. If you keep your coconut oil cold, then you’ll want to melt it before you begin, and let it cool to room temperature. Line a muffin tin with paper, or grease it and set aside.

Whisk the yogurt, oil and eggs until smooth, then mix in the vanilla.

In a separate, large bowl, sift together the flour and baking powder. Stir in the brown sugar. Then, get your berries. First, pick out 12 of the larger berries to stick on the top of each muffin, and set those aside. Next, if you have really big strawberries in your mix, you might want to cut them in half. Sometimes I do this, and sometimes I don’t… but they will shrink away from the batter when cooking and create strawberry flavored holes. Now, stir the berries into the flour sugar mixture until each berry is well coated.

Fold in the yogurt mixture, and stir until there are no significant bits of dry flour. The batter will be quite dry, more like scone mixture.

Spoon the batter into the muffin tin, dividing evenly between each hole. You can fill these all the way to the top… they will rise some, but not excessively. Top each with one of the berries you picked out, and then sprinkle with the raw sugar if you want to.

Bake for 25 to 35 minutes or until the tops are nicely golden and a skewer inserted comes out clean.

0 thoughts on “Muffin Mixed Berries

  1. Finally, another blog entry!!! hehe. We have been waiting a while!! Good things come to those who wait (i hate that expression, but in this case it is true) though huh! Great looking muffins, and brill photos as usual. I love the wrapping around the muffins (that isn’t a regular muffin liner is it?, great touch.

  2. These look absolutely scrumptuous! I see myself eating one right now with my coffee… maybe when you come back there will be no left. No wonder!

  3. How delicious! I will try making them with the fruits that we have here in Brazil (caju, jaboticaba, who knows?) with cashew nut or brazil nut oil. Thanks so much for the great post.

  4. Funny–I was totally eyeing those muffins; I got that book about three months ago! I too loved that they were made with frozen berries. Thanks for (once again) validating me on a recipe. There have been so many where I’ve thought, “Gotta make that one day” and then I flip over here and one day, ta da! You’ve made it before me.

  5. I am learning all sorts of new things today. Never used coconut oil, sounds like it would be great. I have a few bags of blueberries in the freezer, will try using your recipe. I like more fruit than cake. Lovely post.

  6. I love coconut oil! I sometimes drizzle it over my oatmeal for a subtle depth of flavor. The pictures are beautiful. Thanks for the heads up for where to get the muffin liners. They add a great touch.

  7. Love this post! The photos (as always) are engaging and the recipe sounds perfect for serving at home or a bed & breakfast inn. I’d love to feature this recipe on my site, as I think my innkeepers would go ga-ga for it!

  8. Yum! I made something similar yesterday, with spelt flour (I’m addicted to spelt!) but never thought to use coconut oil.. such a good idea. Beautiful photography, too.

  9. That’s my favourite post of all the blogs I’ve entered recently. Lovely. The paper is so beautiful, I would want to eat it with the muffin :). I’ll definitely try those one day!

  10. Muffin mixed berries – love it! They look delicious, and I agree with the rest of the wrapper comments.

    @Barbara: What’s spelt?

  11. Wow- I just found your blog, and I am in love. What beautiful little muffins, the photographs are so wonderful I can almost smell the muffins just by looking at them. I think I am going to make these for my sister-in-law’s bridal shower! can i ask where you got those cute little muffin holders…the decorative paper cups? they just add so much to the look of the muffin. beautiful. thank you for sharing.

    Brittany
    Milwaukee, WI

  12. I’m addicted to muffin making… I usually devise my own recipes, but I just made these (sort of! no yogurt, so I used buttermilk). They are still in the oven, so not sure how they are, but the batter tasted good – always a good sign. Good tip on the coconut oil!

  13. I did a quick internet search for “quick berry muffins frozen berries” and found this recipe. I’m about to make it with the kids, and just wanted to leave a note saying thanks. I would have substituted coconut oil too so kudos for that! We find coconut oil is both more healthy and flavorful. I’m expecting great things from the recipe!

  14. We made it! Yum! I changed the recipe slightly (made them lower in sugar and used natural sugar, sucanat) and the kids loved helping out. I blogged about it on Raw Milk Mama. Thanks again!

  15. Thanks for the recipe! It has become one of my favorite muffin recipes. I made it sometime ago with raspberries and chocolate chips. I am going to make another batch with different berries this time.

  16. Delicious! Delicious! Delicious! I’m glad these muffins finally allowed you to post about them, it made my day. 😉

  17. I make these muffins all the time they are delicious, I use sunflower oil as I always forget to buy coconut oil, and I use half wholemeal, half white. Thanks for sharing

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