Recipe: Berries and lemon muffins

Getting some inspiration back, even if it's just one recipe at a time.

My beans turned out ok - my concern was that they wouldn't be soft enough, but as it turns out they softened quite a bit while in the slow cooker (so much so that they were a little bit more on the mushy side). Next attempt, I'll shorten the soaking time and ease up on the boiling/simmering time.

Today, I tried out a modification of a Martha Stewart muffin recipe to use up the last of my berries. I had to do some modifications based on what was in my pantry, but they turned out surprisingly moist for a low-fat option. 

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/8 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1/2 cup packed dark-brown sugar
• 3/4 cup low-fat plain yogurt (I had vanilla yogurt in my fridge, so I used that)
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil 
• 2 eggs
• 10 ounces fresh raspberries and blueberries 
• 1 teaspoon of lemon zest
• 1 tablespoon of lemon juice

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners. Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Whisk together brown sugar, yogurt, oil, and eggs in another large bowl. Add yogurt mixture to flour mixture and gently mix until just combined. Fold in berries with a rubber spatula.
2. Divide batter among muffin cups. Bake until golden and a toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Let cool in pan 10 minutes. Transfer muffins to a wire rack and let cool completely.

Next time, I may try slightly reducing the amount of berries to the recommended 8oz; additionally (and this is hard for me to do, especially when I'm keen to try out the finished product), make sure that the muffins are cool before you try to remove the muffin paper - not to mention the fact that the lemon flavour is more noticeable once the muffin is cooled.

This week: soupe aux pois, or split pea soup. A facelift for a curbside night-table score. Purging and de-cluttering that final stretch that's been lingering since we moved in here -- Apartment Therapy's Small Cool contest is always an inspiration that helps me get my butt in gear!