July is Blueberry Month and the 11th is Blueberry Muffin Day so what better post than a recipe for….wait for it….Blueberry Muffins!
Blueberries, through their Irish kissing cousins, the bilberry, are also associated with Lughnasadh, the first harvest festival on the Wheel of the Year. Wild bilberries would be collected by young people as they climbed the local hills in Ireland on Bilberry Sunday. The underlying purpose being to check out any available potential partners.
When you make your own Greek yoghurt (as I do), there is a plethora of whey available for all sorts of other projects and it often gets added to overnight or soda bread and wacky cake. This recipe uses whey but if that is not a common ingredient in your house water and/or milk will work as well. It is a simple six large muffin recipe that can be easily doubled to make a larger batch.
During the winter months frozen blueberries do a good job but when in season locally, fresh does the trick. Either way stir gently so as not to break the berries. Over mixing will give you a not so enticing grey batter. Keep enough berries out to place one or two on top so they are easily recognizable and decorative.
You will need:
1 cup flour
5 Tbsp. flax seed, ground
3 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
2 Tsp. lemon zest
1/3 tsp. baking soda
1/3 tsp. salt
2/3 cup whey
3 Tbsp. melted butter
1 extra large egg
2/3 – 1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen
Appreciation for all the goodness the earth nourishes for us is a lovely place to begin preparing to bake. Stop for a moment. Close your eyes and take in a deep breath as you come into the present moment. Feel your shoulders drop on the exhale. Breath in again and hold for a moment before letting the air go, open your heart and begin.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Grease a six form muffin tin. This can be done either with a spray oil or by wiping each individual form with fat. Using paper cups is also an option and makes for easy cleanup but in this house we prefer the outsides a little firmer and that is worth the extra dish washing.
In a medium bowl combine the flour, flax seed, sugar, baking powder, lemon zest and baking soda. Stir to mix. The ground flax seed adds fiber to the muffins as there is very little in the all purpose flour.
Combine the liquids; whey, melted butter and egg. Stir well and pour into the center of the dry ingredients. Mixing too much will create pointy tops as the muffins bake. Combine gently, just enough to bring the mixture together. There can still be some small lumps of dry flour. Add the blueberries. Fold a few times to combine and then divide the batter into the six forms.
Bake 15 minutes and serve warm, if possible with butter and honey. Once cool they can be included in lunch bags or toasted for breakfast the following morning. Maybe even an after school or midnight snack.
Blueberry Muffins from My Kitchen Wand
