Triple Berry Muffins are perfect to perk up your senses in the mornings.

The crispness in the Arizona air is ridiculously refreshing and reminds me of my beloved Autumn days spent frolicking in the New England countryside. These are the spurts of weather I live for, bright, cool days tinged with a hint of warmth, and mellow evenings that melt into starry skied darkness. Some nights are filled with Insomnia Baking during this gorgeous weather, with the cats keeping me company while the hubs sleeps. Other times, the grinding of the coffee beans precedes the bugle of the steady drip-drip-drip of my morning coffee as I stumble to start the morning. Settling into the regular routine that the unpredictability of the holiday season is both a bit comfortable and static. More than any other place I have ever lived, this house is really a safe haven, a home, and is slowly transforming from bland to styled, quirky, and comfortable. Outside the my little haven, the hum of the city traffic quietly serenades the clink of measuring spoons, rhythmic beats of the spatula against a mixing bowl, and the faint hiss of the oven heating up to temperature. I have muffins on the mind, and cannot wait to nestle into a plump, berry filled little dome of tender deliciousness.

More often than not, I am drawn to the heartiness and homeliness of little plump muffins rather than the austere beauty of extravagant cakes, delicate crumbed confections that leave me somehow still hungry and over-sugared. Of course there are exceptions, but even at our wedding I opted for adorable little cupcakes rather than a true cake. Personally, I like the option to have a little bit of something then something else. Dessert Tapas, if you want to give it a name. Muffins often contain a nice, soft structure but tend to have a bit more of an open crumb than true cake, and are often stick with me longer because of it.

Fill the muffin cups up to the top, for extra tall Triple Berry Muffins! Heat, science, and magic will make them super puffed up!

These muffins, and these muffins as well, are great examples of the kind of muffin I most typically am drawn to. Moist, delicately flavored with an even crumb, and a little crunch or cream for contrast. These Triple Berry Muffins are halfway between the two listed, but a bit fancier with an adorable little streusel topper that gets all caramelized and crunchy. The berries soften just enough to gush their fragrant berry juices when you bite in, but not enough to make the muffin soggy. This muffin recipe is something I have baked countless times over the years, and have made it with so many substitutions when I am out of something I am confident to say it is pretty much foul-proof

Crunchy, crisped little muffin tops, These Triple Berry Muffins are soft and velvety inside for the perfect combination of contrast.

Like the gang from Seinfeld, I am obsessed with a good Muffin Top. Not the unfashionable kind that low slung jeans created, but the crisped, crunchy kind of muffin top that is incredibly glorious to consume and makes the sad little muffin trunk better. There are a couple of secrets to getting a great, beautiful, domed muffin top - starting the muffins at a high temperature then dropping it as they bake, and making sure the muffins have a good dry to wet ingredient ratio. Once you get that down, your muffins are pretty much perfect every time.

With this recipe, I have used 2%, Whole Milk, Cream ,Buttermilk, and Buttermilk Substitutes and the muffins have ALWAYS turned out nice and puffy each time. The texture and flavor varies depending what dairy product you use. 2% Milk alone ended up being very tender but a bit bland. Whole Milk and Buttermilk created a velvety texture with great flavor, and Cream plus 1 Tbsp of Lemon Juice created an insanely rich, almost scone-like texture due to the high fat content in the cream. Using the faux Buttermilk (the Cream plus 1 Tbsp Lemon Juice) definitely produced a slightly denser muffin, but it still domed nicely

These Triple Berry Muffins freeze exceptionally well. Sweet enough to start your day off on a high note, but not so sweet that you want to take a nap immediately after consuming one!

There are a couple of other things that make these Triple Berry Muffins so spectacular and reminiscent of the big, bakery muffins - but not toooo cavelike nor sweet as so many bakery muffins tend to be. One of these secrets is just a quarter cup of dark brown sugar used in the batter itself - I love the slightly caramel flavor the sugar lends to the finished muffin. Often, you will see recipes that call for simply granulated white sugar, and to me, those tend to be just a tad over sweet and do not have a lot of layers to the flavor. The second thing I like to do is perfume the sugars with the oil of the Leon by rubbing the lemon zest thoroughly into sugar. It releases the slightly acidic, bitter, and floral notes into the sugar and it helps keep the muffin from being too sweet. If you, like me, like the berries to be evenly distributed throughout the batter, tossing them in the flour to coat them helps suspend them in the wet batter. I take a shortcut and simply toss the berries in with the dry ingredients, but if you are SUPER picky about the berry distribution, taking a 1/4 cup of the dry ingredients and mixing with the berries in a separate bowl then folding into the wet batter is the way to go.

The holiday season kept me out and about of my little home, and now that things are settling back down I am able to create and play in the kitchen with abandon. One of these days we will actually get the microwave fixed as well, and then my kitchen will be fully functional again :)The rest of it is coming along, and that is a pretty wonderful feeling to settle into as I settle into the swing of things once again

I almost always have a couple of these Triple Berry Muffins kicking around in my freezer just in case I have a craving.

Triple Berry Muffins

Author: Iris Anna Gohn

Servings: 12 Muffins

These muffins are very simple to throw together - I use two bowls because I like to measure out my dry ingredients separately. It easily could be done in a single bowl though. As with all quick breads and muffins, it is imperative to mix the batter until it JUST comes together to help keep the finished muffins nice and tender.

I have used both fresh berries and frozen berries, and there is no discernible difference in the finished product. I have used blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, and strawberries as a combination or a single berry alone, and they always turn out wonderfully. I would suggest if you are not using raspberries for whatever reason, to decrease the amount of Vanilla to 2 Tsp and add 1 Tsp of Lemon Juice to help balance the sweetness.

If you want to use Cream or have 2% and would want to make it into buttermilk viscosity, simply take the 1 cup of liquid and mix it with 1 Tbsp of Lemon Juice. Let it sit for about 5 minutes, then stir again to check the thickness of the liquid. It should have thickened up and become slightly lumpy - that’s okay. It’s a good substitute for buttermilk while baking, and actually allows you to use Cream in this recipe if that is the only thing you have on hand. Just know that the milk fat in the Cream is at a much higher percentage than regular milk, so the muffin will turn out slightly denser and more scone like - I actually really love how they turn out.

Ingredients

For the Streusel Topping:

1/4 Cup Granulated White Sugar
1 Tbsp All Purpose Flour
1/8 Tsp Ground Cinnamon
2 Tbsp Salted Butter, melted then cooled

For the Muffins:

3/4 Cup Granulated White Sugar
1/4 Cup Dark Brown Sugar
Zest of 1 Lemon
1/2 Cup (1 Stick) Salted Butter, melted then cooled
2 Eggs, Room Temperature
1 Cup Milk (Whole or Buttermilk is preferred for best traditional muffins, but 2% or Cream mixed wth 1 Tbsp Lemon Juice will work as well)
1 Tbsp Pure Vanilla Extract (or 2 Tsp Vanilla and 1 Tsp Lemon Juice if using simply Blueberries, Strawberries, or Blackberries to balance the sweetness)
2 1/2 Cups All Purpose Flour
1 Tbsp Baking POWDER
1 Tsp Baking SODA
1/2 Tsp SeaSalt
1 3/4 Cup Mixed Berries, fresh or frozen

Directions

For the Streusel Topping:

In a small bowl, whisk together the sugar, flour, and cinnamon.
Pour the melted butter into the dry ingredients and stir to thoroughly incorporate. It should feel a bit like wet sand and have some lumps when ready. Set aside.

For the Muffins:

Preheat Oven to 425 F. Grease and line a muffin tin with cupcake liners, if using. If you are making your own buttermilk, combine the milk and lemon juice and set aside.
In a large bowl, add the white sugar, dark brown sugar, and lemon zest. Gently rub the lemon zest thoroughly into the sugar to help release the lemon oils into it.
Add the butter, vanilla, milk, and eggs to the sugars and whisk to combine.
Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and berries. Use a spatula to gently fold all the ingredients together - batter will be lumpy and it is okay to have a tiny bit of flour not incorporated as you do not want to over mix.
Evenly distribute batter into the prepared muffin tin. The batter should come up to the top of each muffin cup.
Add the streusel topping to each muffin cup in equal amounts and gently press the lumps in to help adhere them into the batter.
Bake for 5 minutes at 425, then reduce the heat to 375 and bake for an additional 13-15 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the center of a muffin. The high heat for the first 5 minutes will help puff those muffin tops up!
Cool in the muffin tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Store leftovers in a sealed container for up to 3 days.