Blackberry Ginger Muffins
This time of year, with blossoms and tiny leaves unfurling, makes me want to bake with fresh fruit. Cobblers, pies, parfaits…Oh, my! the only problem is, fresh fruit is still expensive. Ah well. I will make do with fresh flavor for a few more months.
Which is why I developed this muffin recipe!
They’re easy, quick, and oh-so-fragrant (seriously, bake a batch just for your home’s sake). And did I mention they taste good? well, let’s not leave that out. That’s the most important thing, don’t you think?
Now, I have to admit that one of the reasons I love these muffins so much is they use up jam quickly. It’s unfortunate, but I tend to have 3 or 4 bottles of jam open and wasting in the fridge at any given time. We like jam, and I really like the idea of jam, but we just don’t eat it fast enough.
Anyway, enough about the food I don’t eat, here’s some I eat too much of -enjoy!
Blackberry Ginger Muffins
Makes 12 generously sized muffins
2 cups all-purpose flour
3 tsp. baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cups sugar
1 egg
1 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup seedless blackberry jam -or any flavor you have plenty of
1 1/2 Tbsp fresh finely chopped ginger OR some of that handy ginger-in-a-tube you can buy in the produce section.
Preheat oven to 400.
Mix flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in a bowl. Lightly beat the egg in a small bowl, add milk and oil, mix.
Pour egg, milk, and oil into the flour mixture, along with the jam and ginger. Mix gently just until ingredients blend. Don’t overwork the batter -it should be lumpy. Evaluate the batter -toss in some extra jam or ginger (or both) if you’re feeling spunky and stir a little bit more.
Measure batter into paper-lined muffin tins, and bake for 25 minutes, or until golden brown (mine were done in 22 minutes).
I really think any jam would be lovely with ginger…some ideas are orange marmalade, strawberry, blueberry, or apricot. Ooooh…apricot would be lovely.
One more thing -my preserves were on the tart side…if your jam is quite sweet, try decreasing the sugar by 1/4 cup.
If the muffins turn out a little on the bland side, dip the tops in melted butter, then in sugar.
