Cake, Batter, and Bowl

Berry Muffins

Brunch Dishes

Apolinaras and I spontaneously headed to the grocery store a few weeks ago around 11pm to satisfy my sweet tooth, which is really rare for us. I usually just have a few chocolate chips if there are no treats in the house and I’m craving dessert, but that just didn’t do the trick this time because I really wanted to sink my spoon into some Ben and Jerry’s Chubby Hubby ice cream! The outing reminded me of when my girlfriends and I used to stock up on goodies in the middle of the night to fuel our study sessions in college. But unlike my junk food filled college days, I was immediately excited when I noticed that blueberries were buy one pint get two free – yay! I scooped up three containers and began happily brainstorming about how to use them. And when I saw our huge tub of strawberries from Costco sitting in the fridge when we got home, I decided to combine the two types of berries to make a purple very berry muffin!

Ok, you can see they turned out a little more brown than purple, but they definitely delivered on the berry flavor because I packed 5 cups of berries into 12 muffins! I blended 3 cups of berries into a puree that went into the muffins after being reduced to half a cup of liquid on the stove and then I folded the remaining 2 cups right into the batter. The muffins disappeared quickly and were pretty healthy too.

p.s. Don’t forget to enter my giveaway to win 4 bottles of Girard’s salad dressing!

Berry Muffins
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
3 cups strawberries, hulled
2 cups blueberries
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup buttermilk
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups white whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350˚F. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with cups. Place 2 cups strawberries and 1 cup blueberries in a food processor and pulse until smooth. Place berry puree in a small nonstick pan and cook over medium heat for 20 to 25 minutes or until reduced to 1/2 cup, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.

Mix cooled puree, sugar, oil, buttermilk, egg, and vanilla extract in a large bowl until smooth. Stir in flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Coarsely chop remaining 1 cup strawberries and fold chopped strawberries and remaining 1 cup blueberries into the muffin batter.

Scoop muffin batter evenly into the 12 prepared muffin cups. Bake at 350˚F for 24 to 28 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the muffin comes out clean. Makes 12 muffins.

Nutrition: 169 calories, 5.3g fat, 1.9g fiber, 2.4g protein per muffin
Cost: $0.57 per muffin

Individual Breakfast Pot Pies

I’ve been waking up a couple hours earlier than Apolinaras on the weekends lately. My grumbling tummy and earlier bed time (pregnancy can be exhausting!) are to blame. I’ve been putting the time to good use though. First, I devour a bowl of cereal or some yogurt and...

Mini Bagel Breakfast Sandwiches

My hubby and I shop for the majority of our groceries together on the weekends, but Apolinaras usually heads to the store by himself when we need something during the week. I try to help him out by structuring the list so it goes in order of the store aisles and...

Cornmeal Pancakes with Corn, Bacon, and Sun Dried Tomatoes

I’ve mentioned before that my mom teaches a high school culinary arts program. Her students have a few big national competitions coming up this summer, where they will be vying for scholarships to culinary school, and they recently held a really cool fundraiser at BOS...

Crispy Pecan Chicken and Sweet Potato Biscuit Sandwiches

I have a thing for biscuits. The love affair started when I was growing up and always used to gobble them up at KFC and McDonald’s (actually, McDonald’s breakfast biscuit sandwiches are still one of my guilty pleasures when we’re travelling!). I also have fond...

Egg, Bacon, Mushroom, and Goat Cheese Breakfast Sandwiches

Having just visited San Diego last fall for our friend Renee’s wedding, I decided to take it easy on the tourist attractions during this trip and instead use my time off from the conference to unwind. I slept in late, ate breakfast while enjoying the amazing views...

Red Bean Paste Stuffed French Toast

I’ve been trying to work on clearing out the clutter from our pantry and recently found a lonely can of red bean paste hidden away in the very back corner. How did I forget about such a treasure? It jumped into our cart at HMart a few months ago, and I was originally...

Pumpkin Oat Bran Muffins with Crumble Topping

I have a bit of a canned pumpkin puree hoarding problem. I think it’s partly because of the shortage several years ago and the rumors of another this year. I remember looking everywhere for the stuff that fall, and I actually only finally got my hands on some because...

Orange Coriander Oat Bran Muffins

Guess what I have for you today? Yep, a muffin recipe, which I’ll get to in a second, but also a giveaway for a super cute apron like the one I’m wearing above! I was recently contacted by a rep from Shabby Apple, an online shop best known for their...