As soon as upon a time, I spent roughly a complete summer season making blueberry muffins, gripped with an obsession (that will be worrisome anyplace however this web page) to make what I hoped could be the final blueberry muffin recipe we’d ever want. You’d suppose in any case that that the trail to those raspberry muffins could be less complicated, however it 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 they usually’re totally excellent: hefty, moist, lemony, not too candy, and completely tie-dyed with a constellation of raspberries inside. I feel they may be the perfect muffin I’ve ever made. Right here’s what I’ve discovered alongside the way in which:
Raspberries: Let me simply get this out of the way in which: The right amount of raspberries for six muffins is half a pound, or about 1 2/3 to 1 3/4 cups. This can be a increased berry focus than the blueberry muffins. Raspberries should not blueberries; they spill much less into the batter round them so that you want extra to get the fitting oomph.
Frozen raspberries: As a result of contemporary raspberries will be notably expensive, fairly than let you know “go for it!” in the event you needed to make use of frozen raspberries as an alternative, 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 increased and spreads much less. “However I simply went raspberry selecting!” First, I’m jealous. Second, sure, you’ll be able to nonetheless use them right here, simply remember the fact that the muffins will be flatter.
Dimension: On a rushed, distracted morning on the finish of the college 12 months, I spotted that in the event you unintentionally divide my Good Blueberry Muffin batter into 6 muffins as an alternative of the meant 9, you get an much more towering, beneficiant, bakery-like muffin that feels each bit just like the reward I’d meant them to be for academics*. On this recipe, that measurement 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 advised 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 comprehend I’ve one other step: making a “fast” streusel. In Smitten Kitchen Keepers’ Peach Crumb Muffins, I bumped into this as effectively however it 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 if you’re completed, you’re actually completed.
* Talking of academics! The Smitten Kitchen Classroom Wishlist Mission 2023 is now dwell! Within the US, an incredible variety of academics don’t get the funding they should set their school rooms up for fulfillment. Most will find yourself paying out of their very own pockets to purchase academic supplies, which feels all incorrect and makes me unhappy. I’ve requested academics to ship me their wishlists in hopes that we may help clear as many as doable, as we did final summer season. Assist out in the event you really feel you’re in a position — you’ll unquestionably make a trainer’s (and their college students) day! [Project information. Direct link to spreadsheet.]
