RED raspberry, WHITE chocolate & BLUEberry Muffins

On a patriotic American holiday such as Memorial Day or July 4th, it is fun to serve foods that are red, white, and blue. I did a little experimenting in my kitchen yesterday, and created a muffin recipe showcasing these patriotic colors.

I could call these "Memorial Day Muffins" for a another reason besides their patriotic colors: they bring up some long- ago memories for me! 

When I make muffins, I often use a recipe I've had since my eighth-grade Home-Ec class! Pretty tried
and true after so many years, don't you think? The sight of the crumpled recipe reminds me of giggling afternoons, as my friends and I baked cakes and made macaroni-and-cheese at school.  

This recipe connects me to my past.

This Basic Muffins recipe has been a starting point for a variety of different muffins I have made. Adding berries to it today meant that I had to modify some of the quantities of the other ingredients, because of their high water content.  

In fact,  I changed the recipe quite a bit! I reduced the amount of milk, used vegetable oil instead of melted shortening, increased the amount of sugar, and added white chocolate chips, coconut, and a topping of sugar to the original recipe.  I first made a batch of muffins using a "triple berry blend" of frozen raspberries, blueberries and blackberries. 

While the triple berry muffins were delicious, the blackberries were a little too large, and the black and blue overpowered the red. 

I tried again, this time using frozen blueberries and fresh raspberries. Perfect!

These muffins are best served warm, on the day they are made.

Here's the recipe. Three cheers for the red, white, and blue!  

Red Raspberry, White Chocolate and Blueberry Muffins.

(Printable Recipe: Click here)

Ingredients:

Wet Ingredients

3/4 cup milk

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 egg

1/4 tsp. Almond Extract

Dry Ingredients

2 cups flour

2 1/4 tsp. baking powder

3/4 tsp. salt

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup white chocolate chips

1/4 cup coconut, flakes or shredded

Fruit

1/2 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)

1/2 cup raspberries (fresh or frozen)

Non-stick cooking spray

Sparkling sugar sprinkles or raw sugar

Method:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Grease about 12 - to - 18 muffin tins with cooking spray. 

1. Whisk wet ingredients until well combined.

2.  Mix dry ingredients well.

3. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients all at once. Mix just until dry ingredients are dampened and incorporated; batter may still be lumpy.

4. Very gently fold in berries, trying not to break too many of them.

5.  Fill muffin tins half to three-quarters full with batter. Sprinkle with sparkling sugar.

6. Bake muffins about 18 - 22 minutes, until golden brown. Carefully remove from muffin tins when cool.

Note: This recipe was created at high altitude. If you live close to sea level, it might be necessary to increase salt to 1 tsp. and baking powder to 3 tsp. for best results.

Whether you make these to celebrate an American holiday or for any other reason, I hope that you enjoy them!

Do you have a favorite muffin recipe?

This post may be linked to one of the great link-up parties I follow and list on my blog. Check them out!