As soon as upon a time, I spent roughly an entire summer time making blueberry muffins, gripped with an obsession (that may be worrisome wherever however this web page) to make what I hoped can be the final blueberry muffin recipe we’d ever want. You’d assume in spite of everything that that the trail to those raspberry muffins can be easier, but it surely took 5 raspberry seasons to get right here.
A really logical query you’re about to ask is: Why not simply swap the blueberries in your blueberry muffins with raspberries? And the reply is that whereas it really works, they’re not dangerous in any respect, they’re simply not the raspberry muffin I dreamed of. These are and so they’re completely good: hefty, moist, lemony, not too candy, and completely tie-dyed with a constellation of raspberries inside. I believe they may be the very best muffins I’ve ever made. Right here’s what I’ve discovered alongside the best way:
Raspberries: Let me simply get this out of the best way: The right amount of raspberries for six muffins is half a pound, or about 1 2/3 to 1 3/4 cups. It is a greater berry focus than the blueberry muffins. Raspberries are usually not blueberries; they spill much less into the batter round them so that you want extra to get the suitable oomph.
Frozen raspberries: As a result of recent raspberries could be significantly dear, reasonably than inform you “go for it!” if you happen to needed to make use of frozen raspberries as a substitute, I developed these with them. This was the shock: Frozen raspberries work even higher right here. As a result of we stir them in nonetheless frozen, they don’t get juicy till they’re baked so you find yourself with a thicker muffin batter that domes greater and spreads much less. “However I simply went raspberry choosing!” First, I’m jealous. Second, sure, you possibly can nonetheless use them right here, simply take into account that the muffins could be flatter.
Dimension: On a rushed, distracted morning on the finish of the varsity yr, I spotted that if you happen to by accident divide my Excellent Blueberry Muffin batter into 6 muffins as a substitute of the supposed 9, you get an much more towering, beneficiant, bakery-like muffin that feels each bit just like the reward I’d supposed them to be for academics*. On this recipe, that dimension just isn’t an accident. It makes 6 and it’s simply doubled to make 12. The muffins clock in at 4 to five ounces every and greater than one-third that weight is from raspberries, however they’re made in a standard-sized tin. I informed you they had been dreamy!
Streusel: I don’t make the principles of the universe; I can’t clarify to you why raspberry muffins want streusel however blueberry muffins don’t, however belief me that the streusel right here is nonnegotiable. But I detest making a muffin batter and scooping it out solely to appreciate I’ve one other step: making a “fast” streusel. In Smitten Kitchen Keepers’ Peach Crumb Muffins, I bumped into this as effectively but it surely gnawed at me that streusel is simply butter, sugar, and flour, proper? And that’s already within the batter? A little bit of math later, my answer is to work the streusel step into the early a part of the batter, so while you’re completed, you’re actually completed.
* Talking of academics! The Smitten Kitchen Classroom Wishlist Undertaking 2023 is now stay! Within the US, an amazing variety of academics don’t get the funding they should set their school rooms up for achievement. Most will find yourself paying out of their very own pockets to purchase instructional supplies, which feels all improper and makes me unhappy. I’ve requested academics to ship me their wishlists in hopes that we might help clear as many as doable, as we did final summer time. Assist out if you happen to really feel you’re in a position — you’ll unquestionably make a instructor’s (and their college students’) day! [Project information. Direct link to spreadsheet.]
