It’s a little chilly here today…
So let’s build a fire in the fireplace.
We can cuddle up under a down blanket, I’ll make some Mexican Hot Chocolate and Buttermilk Blackberry Crumble Muffins, and we can braid each other’s hair and watch reality TV as the evening draws nigh.
Oh, OK. You’d like to pass on the fire in the fireplace? Also on the down blanket, the hot chocolate, the hair braiding, and the talking like we’re from Middle Earth?
But you don’t want to pass on the Buttermilk Blackberry Crumble Muffins, right?
Fantastic! I knew we were friends.
There’s something about ripe summer berries that has always been intensely cooling to me. I remember when I was a kid coming up in New England and it would get super hot out, we would climb up the hill out back and pick blueberries like it was our J-O-B.
The berries, straight off the bush, would have this sort of dusty coating, and I remember diving around looking for the bluest, plumpest berry, brushing the chalk off, and then popping it right between my front teeth and letting the juices run down the back of my throat. Total berry heaven.
Now I make due with farmer’s market finds, and we get some insane blackberries here. They’re truly enormous and I’m partial to them because they still have that pop when you bite into them.
Any blueberries that we didn’t eat straight off the bush we would feast on with dark brown sugar and sour cream – a deceptively humble bowl that epitomizes summer for me and was the inspiration for these muffins: the buttermilk is tart and sour, the berries are fresh and sweet, and the crumble topping is busting out with dark brown sugar and crushed gamesas, or Maria cookies.
It’s bonkers summer fun.
Don’t worry – I’ll keep the logs stacked in the fireplace and my hot chocolate mugs at the ready for tomorrow. And if you decide you’d like to wait until October, that’ll be OK too.
Just don’t wait on those fresh summer berries! And don’t wait on a batch of Buttermilk Blackberry Crumble Muffins – I think they might be just what your summer is missing.
Buttermilk Blackberry Crumble Muffins
For the muffins:
3/4 c. white sugar, granulated
5 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
3/4 c. buttermilk
2 large eggs
2 c. all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
2 c. blackberries, roughly chopped
For the crumble topping:
3/4 c. dark brown sugar, tightly packed
1/2 c. Maria cookies, crushed (You can use any type of plain vanilla cookies here, I just suggest that you crush them relatively unevenly -don’t completely pulverize all the cookies- and leave a few larger chunks for some crunch in the finished muffins.)
3 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
Preheat oven to 400°.
Line the cavities of a standard-sized muffin tin with paper liners and set aside.
To prepare the crumble topping, toss the sugar, crushed cookies and melted butter in a small bowl with your hands until well combined. Set aside.
Meanwhile, begin preparing the muffins by creaming the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, and then the flour and baking powder alternating with the buttermilk, mixing just until you have a uniform batter. Fold in the chopped blackberries and fill the lined muffin cavities approximately 2/3 full. Top each muffin generously with the crumble topping. Bake for 18-22 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Serve baked muffins warm or store in a covered container for up to 1 week.
YIELD: approximately 14 muffins
I made these this weekend and they were wonderful! Such a good summer muffin recipe. I blogged about my baking adventure over @ Messofalife.com. Thanks for sharing this recipe!
Oh my goodness, the crumble on top looks amazing!! I can’t get over these, I love blackberries…must make these muffins soon!
Crumbled cookies in the topping? What an awesome idea! Thanks, Meagan!
please tell me how you bake in that heat !!! i live in Louisville where it isnt that much cooler…. i was baking last week and im wondering if the heat outside causing my kitchen to be hotter than normal can cause my baked goodies to freak out a little.
any tips ?
You know, I’ve never actually experienced any issues with baking in the heat. I try to keep the kitchen at a constant temperature while I’m working in it, and I have a large fan that I’ll turn on if the mercury starts creeping a little too high. I also have no compunction about using my freezer and/or refrigerator as a poor man’s blast chiller if I need to quickly bring the temperature down on something that I’m working on. And I sweat. A lot. I’ve learned to just embrace it and drink tons of water.
Whoaaaaa Phoenix!! But these muffins…yes, just yes.
Yummy! These sound like a perfect breakfast muffin. I love fruity muffins!
I can imagine how good those blackberries tasted in muffins!
These muffins look awesome!!
LOL. I would definitely NOT want to pass up on these muffins. I LOVE muffins with berries. I also love that you added cookies to the crumble topping ♥
Where in New England did you grow up?
When I was very, very young, my family lived in Boston and then Andover for a couple of years (the blueberry-picking obviously took place in Andover). I later spent the majority of my growing up in Virginia, which I still consider my home.
We live in Maine and the blueberries are just out!
I love the idea of using cookies for the crumble topping…sounds delicious!
And forgive me for misspelling you’re name, Meagan! I fail.
No worries, Rachel! I still misspell my own name from time to time.
Oh.My.Word. That crumble, that thick batter, COOKIES, I’m dying right now! Megan, this recipe is a must-try! Pinning now
these look like heaven – and i totally feel you on the weather. it was “cool” and rainy here in phoenix last week so I seized the opportunity to eat some warm, comforting chili…. it WAS “only 98″ outside so it’s cool
I feel you, my sister in sweat.
I’ve have a whole pile of blackberries in my fridge at the moment just waiting to be used up (although it’s about 40 degrees cooler here so I could also go for the fire & hair braiding). Love the crumbly goodness on top.
Meagan, that temperature chart combined with your irony was a hoot! Seriously though, these muffins would be worth turning down the air conditioner for a leeeetle while, just to enjoy the blackberry & cookie goodness!
Well, when you factor in the air conditioning quotient, these muffins are just the ticket.
I love the crushed cookies b/c muffins (or cookies) are better when you add…cookies to them! or stuff them with candy
I really, really, REALLY like the way you think, A.!