Blackberry Ginger Muffins + Mother's Day Brunch

Most of my weekend was spent in New Hampshire, spending quality time with family and friends. It was really wonderful, since it's been a while since I've seen my entire immediate family at one time. Since we were all going to be together on Mother's Day, my siblings and I decided to make my mom brunch on Sunday. The menu included:

Bacon, for the meat eaters...

Omelettes, with several "fillings" to choose from...

Fresh fruit...

And my homemade Blackberry Ginger Muffins.

These muffins were a total experiment, but I'm glad they came out as well as they did (although next time, I'll probably use fresh ginger for extra flavor). The inspiration behind them was a bag of frozen blackberries that had been sitting in my freezer for quite some time. After some perusing through The Flavor Bible, I decided to add some dried ginger and cinnamon for extra flavor. The end result was a very moist, flavorful muffin - that also tasted somewhat healthy thanks to the whole wheat flour and blackberries.

Blackberry Ginger Muffins

Yields: 15 muffins 

-2 cups whole wheat flour

-1 cup packed dark brown sugar

-1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

-1/2 tsp. baking soda
-1/2 tsp. salt
-1/2 tsp. dried ginger
-1/2 tsp. cinnamon
-1 cup milk (I used Lactaid Milk)
-3 tbsp. butter, melted
-1 tsp. vanilla extract
-1 egg
-1 1/2 cups frozen blackberries, roughly chopped
-Cooking spray
-Granulated sugar

Directions:
1.) Preheat oven to 400  degrees.
2.) Combine flour,brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ginger and cinnamon in a large bowl. Make a well in the center of the mixture.
3.) Combine milk, butter, vanilla and the egg in a small bowl; add to flour mixture, and stir until just moist. Gently stir in blackberries.
4.) Spoon 1/4 cup batter into each paper-lined muffin tins, sprayed with cooking spray (I didn't have paper tins, but used extra cooking spray, which worked fine). Bake at 400 degrees for 16 minutes. Sprinkle muffins with granulated sugar, and then bake for 3 minutes more, or until muffins spring back when touched lightly in the center. Let muffins cool for about 10 minutes before removing them from the pan.

These muffins - along with the brunch in general - were a hit with both the adults and children.

My older sister and niece.

My niece and nephew.

Such a great weekend, with good food, family and great friends.

What new recipes have you experimented with lately? 

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