It's all about the Crumble Topping

I had to make sure it wasn't poisonous.

About a week or two ago I made what a cookbook described as a tamale pie. Essentially it was a casserole of all things mexican: black beans, red peppers, tomatoes, etc., covered in a layer of what was supposed to be tamale but which ended up being more like cornbread. (that's the last time that I listen to a cookbook and buy corn meal when I know it should be masa) Nonetheless, it was tasty, but it left me with a pint of buttermilk. Yesterday was officially the expiration date of said buttermilk, and not wanting to waste it, I headed to my Williams Sonoma Muffin cookbook. Initially I thought I'd make some Vanilla Pear muffins, but soon realized I was out of the requisite pecans. I did have a pint of fresh raspberries that were about to die in the fridge if I didn't eat them soon. I tracked down a blackberry recipe that called for 2 cups of berries (I only had one) so I hit the freezer and pulled out a bag of TJ's frozen mixed berries.

The result? Bryan swears they must be really bad for you, given how good they taste. I claim that while technically probably not GOOD for you, I'm not sure I believe they're BAD for you either. You decide.

MIXED BERRY MUFFINS

Topping
1/3 cup sugar
3 Tbsp all-purpose flour
grated zest of 1/2 lemon
2 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted

Muffins
2 Cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinammon
grated zest of 1/2 lemon
1/4 tsp salt
1 large egg, beaten
5 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup fresh berries + 1 cup frozen mixed berries

Preheat oven to 375. Grease a 12-cup muffin tin with butter.

Make topping by combining sugar, flour and zest. Then mix in melted butter and stir until crumbly.

Just-Barely-Mixed Batter

In a large bowl, mix together dry ingredients for muffins. Make a well in the center and add wet ingredients (but not berries). Mix together with a scraper. Make sure you just barely mix it all together, do NOT over-stir. Batter should be clumpy.

Add berries and barely combine.


Scoop into muffin tin.


Add crumble topping evenly amongst muffin tins. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until muffins are slightly golden on top and springy. If your oven is as prone to hot spots as mine is, make sure to rotate the muffins halfway through the baking process.

Let cool 15 minutes on a rack. Unmold the muffins and dive in.


After I mixed in the berries the batter turned an intense purple color. I was surprised that the muffins, once finished baking, weren't the same purple color. Somehow they had returned to their dough-color in the oven. Magic. Or chemistry. Or both.