Blackberry Buttermilk Muffins

Light and fluffy, these blackberry muffins are easy and delicious.

What could be lovelier on a cold winter’s lazy Sunday morning than a basket full of warm muffins filled with juicy blackberries! These blackberry muffins are a great and easy muffin to put together in just a few minutes. They are light and tender with just the hint of spice, orange peel, and of course lots of juicy tart blackberries. The key to muffins is to just mix together quickly and gently, trying not to develop any gluten. The optional course sugar gives these muffins a delicious crunchy topping. If you don’t have any coarse sugar on hand you can skip that topping or you can use plain white sugar, brown sugar, or even raw sugar.

Unlike the east coast, where blueberries are the obvious first choice, for muffins, blackberries in the Bay Area where I grew up, would be the berry of choice. During blackberry season this tart juicy berry can be found in everything from pies, jams, pancakes, muffins and yogurt flavors. My childhood refrigerator was always stocked with blackberry yogurt. Now, of course, blackberries can be found all across the country year round. I love them in everything. Baking blackberry muffins on a cold winter morning for breakfast brings back memories of warm California summer months and home.

I found paper liners on Amazon like bakeries use to get high lofty muffins. The ones I found come in a sleeve of 200, you might be able to find smaller amounts. However, you would be surprised how quick you will go through them. The liners are not that expensive. They help the muffins grow nice and tall and the baked muffin doesn’t stick to them, something I don’t like about regular paper liners. I also use a big muffin scoop to portion out the batter. You don’t need to use a scoop, but it helps for even scooping. It’s a great investment to have.

A good east coast friend, shyly commented that she had one slight complaint with these muffins. She was not sure how to eat blackberries in baked goods because of the seeds. It took me a minute to think of a response to her admission. I’ve been eating them my whole life and had not thought about how to get around the seed problem. I guess the best way to explain is to say just don’t bite down hard on the seeds and just swallow them. The seeds won’t hurt you. In fact,”The seeds contain oil rich in omega-3 as well as protein, dietary fiber, carotenoids, ellagitannins and ellagic acid”, to quote Wikipedia. She and I had a good laugh.

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Blackberry Buttermilk Muffins

Prep Time

5 mins

Cook Time

30 mins

Total Time

35 mins

 

Quick and easy Blackberry Muffins bursting with juicy blackberries with just a hint of spice and orange peel

Course: Baking, Breakfast

Cuisine: American

Servings: 12 muffins

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon grated orange peel
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 2 1/2 cups fresh blackberries
• 1/4 cup coarse sugar, optional You could use plain white or raw or brown

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F. 

2. Lightly spray with cooking spray or butter a standard 12-cup muffin tin, or line the tin with muffin tin liners. If using standard muffin liners, grease the top of the pan around each muffin as the muffins will crown over the edges a bit.
   

3. In a bowl (or I use a 4 cup measuring cup), using a fork or whisk, stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ground coriander, and salt. 
   

4. In a medium-sized bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until well combined and fluffy. 
   

5. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
   

6. Beat in the vanilla and orange peel. 
   

7. Using a spatula, add in ½ the flour mixture. Gently stir together, being careful not to over mix. Just stir until almost combined.
   

8. Stir in the buttermilk, blending until again, just barely combined.
   

9. Add the remaining flour mixture. Fold and stir just until combined. There can be small clumps. They will blend a bit more as you add in the blackberries. 
   

10. Add the blackberries to the batter, stirring just to combine and to evenly distribute. 
    

11. Scoop the batter by the heaping 1/4-cupfuls into the prepared muffin pan; a muffin or ice-cream scoop works well here.
    

12. Sprinkle about 1 teaspoon coarse sugar atop each muffin, if desired    
    

13. Bake the muffins for about 30 minutes, until they're light golden brown on top, and a toothpick inserted into the middle of one of the center muffins comes out clean. 
    

14. Remove the muffins from the oven, loosen their edges from the pan, and after about 5 minutes transfer them to a rack to cool.
    

15. serve these puppies warm with butter!