Berry Pickin’

This summer, I planted a raspberry bush in our yard and, man, was I excited. I envisioned going out in the morning and picking handfuls of berries and making jams, sauces, desserts, the whole bit. My vision was lacking in the reality department, though. Turns out that a single, year-old raspberry bush isn’t going to produce more than a couple berries a day.

This weekend, though I did get to fulfill my dreams of picking all the berries I could ever need. Michael and I headed up to his family’s place near the Wisconsin Dells for a quick getaway. While hiking the trails on their property, we came across bramble after bramble of wild blackberry bushes – a tremendous treat. We spent the afternoon loading up a box of these tiny, sweet berries to take home where I had a plan in store.

The grand plan: muffins. It’s nothing fancy, but these berries were small and sweet – just about the size of blueberries – that they seemed destined to end up in a muffin tin. So I took these berries to share with my mom and we whipped up a quick batch.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup sugar + extra for dusting
• 1/3 cup melted butter
• 1 cup milk
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon salt
• Zest of one lime
• 1 1/2 cups blackberries

I love a good muffin recipe because they are easy-peasy. I just mixed all the ingredients (with the exception of the berries) together until just combined. Then I gently stirred in the berries and the lime zest and called it a day. The lime zest I think makes these pop a bit, but if you don’t have lime on hand, no biggie! You can toss in a little vanilla and cinnamon (about a teaspoon of each) to add a nice, comforting flavor.

TIP: If you have larger berries, especially the storebought variety, yout might want to give them a quick dusting with flour. This will prevent them from sinking to the bottom of your muffins.

When you’re all set with the muffins, dish them into muffin tins and sprinkle the top with a little coarse or granulated sugar. It gives it a little bit of a crunch. Toss these in the oven at 400°F for 18-20 minutes.

And that’s all she wrote for this one, folks! Now get out there while the wild blackberry picking is still good! If you’re in southern or central Wisconsin, you might be able to nab a few. Lucky northerners might have another week or two.