Culinary Adventures: (You're Givin' Me) Such Sweet Muffins

Mr. Geek says that "a friend of his" misheard these lyrics...uh-huh...sure.

A couple weeks ago, I decided I really wanted to bake some blueberry muffins.

That's right, folks- we've reached the stage where the smell of cooking food no longer nauseates me!

Such Sweet Muffins
adapted from Paula Deen

Ingredients:
-2 C all-purpose flour
-2 Tbsp baking powder
-1/2 C sugar
-1 stick unsalted butter, melted
-1 egg, slightly beaten
-3/4 C milk
-1 C blueberries
-extra sugar

 -First, look up the recipe on your computer.  Then preheat the oven to 350F and spray a 12-cup muffin tin with cooking spray

-Combine the flour, baking powder, and sugar.  You could use a sifter for this if you're fancy.  I'm not fancy, so I just whisked the mixture.  With a fork.  In another bowl, combine the butter, egg, and milk.  (Tip: let the melted butter cool a bit before mixing it with the egg, else you might end up with scrambled eggs- which are tasty, just not a good muffin ingredient.)

-Pour the wet ingredients in with the dry

-Stir with a spatula (or spoonula, if you're fancy) until just combined- lumps are okay!  Over-mixing the batter can lead to tough or chewy muffins instead of light and fluffy ones.

-Mmm, blueberries.  Paula calls for 1 1/2 C; 1 C was plenty for me.  Add as many or as few as you'd like.  Pretend not to notice your husband eating some directly from the carton before you know exactly how many you need.

-Gently fold in the berries- you don't want to squish them, and you also don't want to over-mix that batter!

-Scoop the batter into the cups of your muffin tin.  Ideally, they should all be the same size (about 2/3 of the way full).  I'm not a perfectionist.

-Bake for 10 minutes, then remove from the oven and sprinkle with just a pinch of sugar.  You could use brown sugar for a streusel-y effect.

-Bake 10-15 minutes more, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.  Let cool a bit in the pan, then turn them out onto a rack.

Funny names aside, these muffins aren't particularly sweet- hence the addition of the sugar topping.  Even then, they're definitely more breakfast than dessert.  I prefer my muffins hot, sliced down the middle with a swipe of butter.  If you'd rather your muffin be a dessert, you can warm it up and top it with whipped cream, perhaps a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side as if it were shortcake... (Chief suggested this in the form of a craving the other night, but we didn't have vanilla ice cream.  However I can attest that hot muffin + Cool Whip = amazing.)

*cough* So about that healthy eating...

Do you prefer your blueberry muffins on the sweet side or the could-be-construed-as-health-food side?  Fellow moms- what are some weird things you craved during pregnancy?

Much love,
The Geeks

*all photos personal, taken by the lovely and talented Mr. Geek*