Thursday, June 17, 2010

Is it strange....

......that I took 45 shots of muffins yesterday? It was my day off, so I decided to bake some blueberry muffins and some chocolate chip muffins. They looked so pretty when I was done, I couldn't resist getting some shots of them. The best part is, they taste even better than they look!!



First the bluberry ones!!




....and here are the chocolate chip ones!!










In case any of you want to try them for yourselves, here is the recipe.

1/2 cup shortening

1-1/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

2 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cloves

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla

A splash of orange juice

2 pints fresh (or frozen) blueberries

2 cups milk chocolate chips

fresh orange zest

Cream shortening and sugar; add eggs one at a time and blend. Add vanilla and orange juice. Add dry ingredients alternately with milk. Fold in berries/chips. Add zest. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 - 30 minutes. Makes approximately 18 muffins. I doubled the recipe to make 2 batches and then just halved the batter before adding the chocolate chips and blueberries.

For the blueberries, I put them in a pan and added about 2 tablespoons of honey and 1 cup of sugar. I also added a little orange juice (a splash) and a cinnamon stick. I let that cook down until the blueberries were soft. Then I drained them before I added them to the muffin mix. I also added a little of the blueberry liquid to the batter as well. That's it!! Hope you enjoy them!! I have to say, I think I like the blueberry ones a little better than the chocolate chip. They are more moist, I think because of the added juice.