This time of year there is so much local, fresh produce I can’t help but want to buy it all. It’s the first thing I see when I go into the grocery store, or farmer’s market and I want all the juicy peaches, plums, cherries, pears and more! This always leads to having way more on hand than we can consume before the fruits start to ripen too much and go bad. The perfect solution? Baking! This week we had somehow accumulated an abundance of blueberries. I had a basket of peaches just on the cusp of being too soft and school is back in. A soft, sweet, fruit filled muffin was exactly what I needed to make.
I knew the flavours I wanted to bring out, and started searching through my recipes and online for new inspiration. I couldn’t quite find the exact recipe I wanted to work with ingredients I had on hand, so decided to experiment using a base to create one more in line with what I was looking for. I love a crumble on fruit muffins. It gives that sweet crunch on top. I wanted brown and white sugar in the muffin as brown sugar adds a bit more depth of flavour, along with cinnamon and nutmeg to compliment the fruit just so. Last but not least, if I’m making a fruit muffin, I want it FILLED with fruit. Not a little in each bite, I want to taste the fruit as the main feature. The changes turned out fantastic and I had to put some muffins in the freezer so my family wouldn’t eat them all up in a couple days! I hope you enjoy them as much as we did!
Ingredients
Muffins
3/4C Softened Butter
1C White Sugar
1/2C Brown Sugar
2 Eggs
1/2 Tsp Vanilla
2/3C Milk (I used 2%)
2 1/2 Tsp Baking Powder
3C Flour
1/2 Tsp Cinnamon
1/4 Tsp Nutmeg
1 1/2 C each Blueberries and Diced Peaches
Crumble Topping
1/4C Cold Butter
1/4C Each Brown and White Sugar
2/3C Flour
1 Tsp Cinnamon
Directions
This recipe makes approximately 24 muffins.
Start by rinsing and drying your blueberries, then peeling, and dicing your peaches. Set aside. Preheat your oven to 400F.
Mix your butter until it is light and smooth. Add in both sugars and mix until fluffy. Add in the eggs one at a time, vanilla, then the milk. Once combined, add in the baking powder. Add the flour one cup at a time, allowing it to mix in before adding the next cup. Finish with the spices. Let everything blend well, remembering the scrape the sides of your bowl. Don’t over mix once the flour has been added or it will make your muffins too dense. Once all the ingredients are blended together, add your fruit, and fold into the batter. The easiest way to fold your fruit in is to use a spatula and gently scoop the batter from the bottom of the bowl and fold it over top of the fruit. Do this a few times until the fruit is covered in batter. This method will help avoid breaking and bruising the fruit, keeping the pieces intact for big flavour bites.
Make your crumble by using a fork to break apart the cold butter. Then add your flour, sugars and cinnamon. Still using the fork, alternate between stirring and slicing the mixture to help it form a sand like composition. The butter needs to be well broken up so there are no big clumps, but the mixture will not be perfectly smooth.
Line your muffin pans with muffin cups or grease the muffin pan. I use both paper and silicone liners to make life simple. These muffins are cooked at a high temperature and are fairly compact so I was able to fill the cups to just under the top. Once filled, take a spoon and gently spread the crumble topping on the batter.
Place the pans in the preheated oven at 400F for 15-20 minutes, until you can insert a toothpick and it comes out clean. Let the muffins cool and enjoy! They can be frozen in a freezer bag or tightly sealed container. To defrost, remove from freezer as needed and let sit at room temperature until fully defrosted. I can pull a muffin in the morning, put it in a container and it’s often ready to eat by the time my kids’ morning snack time rolls around. Super easy!
Everyday Functionality 