Prickly Paradise

My fingers are red. My hands are torn and raw, my pants knee deep in a frigid stream, my shirt hopelessly entangled in the thorny brambles. Why oh why do I love blackberries so much?

Oh, right. Because they're delicious. These delectable berry bushes grow a couple of blocks from my apartment, and (that I know of) no one else ever picks them.

I always have the best of intentions when I go blackberry picking. I'll freeze half for later! I'll make something healthy out of them! I'll try something exciting and new! But what usually happens is I leave them on the counter. Half magically disappear, and the other half become..


..blackberry muffins. Sweet, juicy, and utterly scrumptious.

This is the best recipe I've found so far.

Blackberry Muffins
Adapted from allrecipes.com
Makes 10-12 regular-sized muffins

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1-2 cups fresh blackberries

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners.
2. Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, salt and baking powder. Place vegetable oil into a 1 cup measuring cup; add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup. Mix this with flour mixture. Fold in blackberries. Fill muffin cups right to the top.
3. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until done. (In my terrible, over-heating oven they only took 15, so watch closely!)

Notes:

• Don't you dare use frozen blackberries! They won't turn out very well! If you do, and they don't, don't say I didn't warn you.
• Do wash your blackberries. They have that weird brown fur on them. Yuck.