Foodie Finds: Sweet & savory muffins

Last week, I purchased a big box of fresh blueberries. It may have been a few more blueberries than I needed so I started looking for ways to use them and save their summery goodness for later.

Sweet muffins

I found a recipe for Jordan Marsh’s Blueberry Muffins that was published in the New York Times in 1987. Jordan Marsh was a department store well known for these muffins, so I had to give them a try.

I added more blueberries than what was called for because I like lots of fruit in my muffins and I made them jumbo sized. I also sprinkled the tops with turbinado (raw) sugar for a crunch factor. The cake of this muffin is tender, sweet and made moist by the addition of mashed blueberries as well as whole fruit. I froze most of the batch but was really impressed by this muffin!

Having more blueberries left, but not quite enough for another batch, I added fresh peaches to the next batch I made. Wow! Another hit and more goodies for the freezer.

Savory muffins

I started thinking about what else I had that would make a good muffin. I decided to try a savory muffin with the tomatoes, cheese and chives I had on hand. Here’s the formula I used for the savory muffin:

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 t baking powder
• ½ t baking soda
• ½ t salt
• ¼ t black pepper
• 2 T cornmeal
• Whisk together dry ingredients.
• 6 T butter
• 1 ¼ cup buttermilk
• 2 large eggs

Beat together wet ingredients, then mix in dry ingredients.

I folded in tomatoes, sauteed green onion, chives and 1 cup of cheese, a mixture of gruyere and cheddar. I added some flaked kosher salt to the tops before baking.

Bake at 375 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes.

The savory muffins were delicious served as little bites with wine. I also had a few more for the freezer!

Taste of summer year round

I am now well stocked for muffins and I'm very pleased with myself for saving some of the summer bounty for later. When the snow is flying and I’m missing these summer days, I'll thaw a few summer muffins!