Some weekend mornings when I’m still up earlier than anyone else in the house, I like to make muffins. They’re simple, delicious and perfect for an easy weekend morning.
Muffin mix can be a useful time-saver, but on a morning with no class or work to worry about, I like to make muffins from scratch. Something about puttering about the kitchen on a fall morning making a warm, homey breakfast appeals to my sense of well-being.
Taking my time mixing together ingredients, listening to the radio with the volume low and dropping dollops of batter into the muffin tins centers me. It makes me feel like I can slow down after a week of rushing from class to class to work.
After that comes the best part, my absolute favorite part of baking anything: pulling open the oven and letting that delicious scent waft over me. That is the moment when the muffins are radiating heat and heavenly flavor through their delicately crunchy crusts. It’s the moment that promises a steaming, crumbling bite of cinnamon and brown-sugar-loaded muffin in mere seconds.
A funny thing about that steaming, crumbling bite – it only exists in the few seconds after the muffin is pulled from the oven. That is the moment when the muffin can melt a pat of butter and absorb it into its fluffy insides, the moment when the muffin hasn’t firmed up enough to stop from falling apart. I love that bite, and that first muffin.
I also love the second muffin, which typically firms up enough so I do not end up with a pile of crumbs in my fingers and on my plate. It has a warm, moist texture. The third muffin is just as good, and so is the fourth, but I’m digressing.
The muffins that I like best are sprinkled liberally with berries: raspberries, blueberries, juneberries or blackberries. They bring a tangy burst of flavor to a bite, a lovely contrast to the sweeter, bread-y part of the muffin. For a little crunch, chopped walnuts or pecans work beautifully.
Muffins are homely – and homey. What they lack in looks, they make up in comfort. They are comforting in their familiarity in my kitchen, as well as in the simplicity of their flavor. They are flexible too, in that they welcome berries, nuts, jam or butter.
Berry Muffins
3 cups flour
½ cup of sugar
½ cup of packed brown sugar
1 tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
½ tsp. cinnamon
½ cup melted butter
3 eggs
1 cup milk
1–1½ cups of berries
Heat the oven to 400 degrees F. Either grease and flour two muffin tins or use paper muffin cups.
Mix together the dry ingredients: flour, sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Make a dip in the center.
In the dip, add the melted butter, eggs and milk. Blend just the wet ingredients together, until the eggs are scrambled. Add the berries (if you like chopped nuts in your muffins, add them here too.) Mix everything until batter is smooth.
Fill each muffin cup two-thirds full. For a sweeter, slightly more crunchy crust, sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon.
Bake for 20 minutes or until tops of muffins are golden brown. To check whether they have baked all the way through, stick a toothpick in each muffin. A clean toothpick will come out of a baked muffin, while an under-baked muffin will leave crumbs on the toothpick.