I am back, well kind of

Hey everyone. I know I have been off of here for a long time and I am going to give it another go, but with a little bit different concept. The weekly meal menus were just way too much! I could not keep up with all the work. So I am going to use this site to periodically post some of my favorite recipes. 

Strawberry Picking at Vollmer Farm

I want to give you all a recipe for Blueberry and Strawberry Crumb Muffins. The recipe comes from a new cookbook of mine that I have fallen in love with, although they just used 1 cup of blueberries, but we had just gone strawberry picking so I threw in some fresh strawberries as well. It is called Clinton St. Baking Company Cookbook. This book comes from a great little place in New York and I would highly recommend it. Every recipe I have made so far has been wonderful. 

Blueberry/Strawberry Crumb Muffins

Crumb Mix:

Makes 1 1/2 cups, enough for 2 or 3 batches of muffins

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cubed ( I actually used Kerrigold Irish salted butter and it was amazing)

Mix the dry ingredients with the butter by hand until the mixture is pea-sized. This topping can be stored for a couple of weeks in the fridge. 

Muffins:

Makes 10 standard sized muffins

1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 large egg

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup fresh blueberries

1/2 cup thinly sliced strawberries

10 tablespoons crumb mix

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease muffin tins or use paper muffin cups.

2. In an electric mixer on medium-high speed, with the paddle attachment cream together the butter, sugar, and vanilla.

3. Sift (I just whisked) the remaining dry ingredients together in a bowl.

4. Add the eggs to the butter mixture and blend until combined.

5. Add 1/4 cup of the sour cream to the butter mixture, then half of the dry ingredients, mixing and repeating with the remaining sour cream and then the remaining dry ingredients until the batter is combined. Be sure to end with the dry ingredients.

6. Fold in the berries until evenly mixed. 

7. Spoon the batter into the muffin tins, leaving room an the top for the crumb mix. Top each muffin with 1 tablespoon of the crumb mix. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. (My oven runs a little hot so my were done around 20 minutes. )

8. Cool for at least 10 minutes for best release of the muffins from their tins (if not using paper liners).