Blackberry, Lemon, and Thyme Muffins

I have been seeing a lot written in the cooking world about the combination of blackberries and thyme.  One recipe that caught my eye was in Bon Appetit magazine -Blackberry, Lemon, and Thyme muffins.  You have nice plump blackberries - fresh or frozen, mixed with  fresh thyme and lemon zest baked in a delicious batter consisting of butter, cake flour, regular flour, sugar, vanilla and buttermilk.    Top this batter with a delicious crumble, bake, and you have one moist great tasting muffin.








Blackberry, Lemon, and Thyme Muffins
From Bon Appetit

Crumble

1 cup cake flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/4" cubes
1 large egg yolk

Muffins

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons finely grated lemon zest
1-1/2 cups fresh (or frozen, thawed, drained) blackberries (about 6 ounces), halved lengthwise
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme


Special Equipment: Eight 4-ounce paper muffin molds (optional)
Note:  I used my Texas size muffin molds.  You can also use standard-size muffin molds

Crumble Whisk first 5 ingredients in a medium bowl.  Add butter.  Using your fingertips, rub in butter until pea-size lumps form.  Add egg yolk; stir to evenly distribute and form moist clumps. (Crumble should resemble a mixture of pebbles and sand.)  Chill for at least 1 hour.  Do ahead: Can be made 3 days ahead.  Cover and keep chilled.

Muffins Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  If making standard-size muffins, line 16 1/3-cup molds with paper liners. Note: I lightly sprayed my muffin molds with cooking spray.
Whisk 1 cup all-purpose flour and next 4 ingredients in a medium bowl.  Using an electric mixer, beat butter until pale and creamy, about 2 minutes.  Add sugar and continue to beat until well incorporated, 2-3 minutes longer.  Whisk eggs and vanilla in a small bowl to blend; gradually beat into butter mixture.  Continue beating until light and fluffy, 3-4 minutes.  Combine buttermilk and lemon zest in a small bowl; gradually beat into butter mixture.  Add dry ingredients; beat just to blend (do not over mix).
Toss blackberries and thyme with 2 tablespoons flour in another small bowl; fold into batter, gently crushing berries slightly to release some juices.  Spoon about 2/3 cup batter into large paper muffin molds, or divide between prepared muffin pans.  Top each large muffin with 2 tablespoons crumble or each small muffin with 1 rounded tablespoon crumble.
Bake until tops are golden brown and a tester comes out clean when inserted into center, about 50 minutes for large muffins and 40 minutes for standard-size muffins.  Let cool in pan at least 20 minutes, then transfer muffins to a wire rack to cool.  Serve warm or at  room temperature.
Do Ahead: Can be made 1 day ahead.  Store cooled muffins airtight
at room temperature.


Makes 8 large muffins or 16 small  muffins.

Muffin Batter With Crumble

Out of the Oven Cooling

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