Blueberry Strawberry Muffins

I woke up the other morning with a craving for blueberry muffins, so I shuffled off into the kitchen to whip up a batch for breakfast. It wasn't until I finished mixing the batter that I realized I didn't have enough blueberries. I did, however, have some fresh strawberries, so I tossed them in alongside the blueberries. I topped them off with a brown sugar and cinnamon crumb topping and the result was an extra large, delicious muffin that my family couldn't keep their hands off of. This is easily my favorite muffin recipe.


For the muffins:

- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon baking powder

- 2/3 cup vegetable oil
- 2 eggs
- 2/3 cup of buttermilk
- 1 cup fresh blueberries
- 1 cup fresh strawberries, washed, hulled and chopped

For the crumb topping:

- 1 cup brown sugar
- 2/3 cup all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup butter cubed
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease muffin tins or line with muffin liners.

Combine flour, sugar, salt and baking powder in a large bowl. In a smaller bowl combine vegetable oil, eggs and buttermilk. Mix this with the flour mixture then fold in blueberries and strawberries.

Make the crumb topping by combining the brown sugar, flour and cinnamon, then cut in the butter.

 Fill 12 muffin cups to the top and sprinkle with the crumb topping (do not put too much topping on any one muffin as this may cause them to sink).

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until done.

Patriotic Chocolate Berry Cupcakes

I made these red, white and blue topped cupcakes for a 4th of July barbecue, but they would  be a hit at any summer get together!

- 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa (I use Nestle Choco Bake)
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups white sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder

- 1/2 tsp salt

- 2 large eggs
- 3/4 cup water
- 3/4 cup buttermilk
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups mini chocolate chips
- 1 container frozen whipped topping (defrost in refrigerator for 4 hours prior to using)
- 24 strawberries, washed hulled and halved
- 1 pint fresh blueberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place liners in two 12 cups muffin tins.

In a large bowl whisk together cocoa, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt until thoroughly mixed.

In a medium bowl whisk together eggs, water, buttermilk, vegetable oil and vanilla extract. Whisk into flour mixture until all ingredients are mixed in. Fold in chocolate chips.

Fill muffin cups with approx. 4 Tbls of batter each. Bake for 15 - 18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted intp the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Remove cupcakes from tin and cool on wire racks completely.

Once cooled top cupcakes with whipped topping, strawberry halves and blueberries. I found that the topping melts quickly at room temperature, so I would recommend waiting until you are ready to serve them to top them, or storing them in a cool place until ready to serve. I kept mine in the refrigerator and removed them shortly before serving to allow them to warm up.