Ina's Muffins

It's time for Secret Recipe Club :-)  And, I'm not sure exactly where to start.  So, let me start at the beginning - time wise.  Many years ago my ex and I moved to Fort Wayne, IN.  We bought a big, old house that needed a LOT of love and attention.  I moved in and painted for a week before the actual moving day.  At that point I was young enough that a sleeping bag on the floor wasn't a big deal.  The best thing about the house was the landscaping.  A trellis on the side of the front porch had the most glorious pink sweetheart roses.  And, a garden at the back had rhubarb.  Something I'd always loved.  Somewhere I found a recipe for a strawberry rhubarb muffin that was perfect.  The flavors were balanced.  The muffin was sweet without being cloying.  I've thought about that muffin for all these years.  And, I've never quite found one as good.  Until now. 

Yes, Annie came through for me.  Big time.  This month I was assigned AnniesNoms.  Now, Connie and I are dieting.  He's doing much better at it than I am.  Ugh.  So, when I got my assignment and found a blog jam-packed with fabulous baked treats I was more than a bit disappointed.  Every time I'd read posts I'd gain five pounds.  I read a couple of years of posts.  Now, you see why Connie's doing so much better at the diet than I am?  It's Annie's fault.  LOL.  Finally, I decided I'd just have to make an entrée or side dish.  Just couldn't justify baking.  So, I went back on to look again at the entrees.  And, there it was.  A recipe for raspberry blueberry muffins.  An Ina Garten recipe.  And, Annie said it could be used as a base muffin mix. 

Last weekend Connie bought strawberries at the store since we only had enough in the garden for the top of the strawberry torte.  He bought a large vat of strawberries.  I made strawberry margarita salad with part of them.  But, a small vat remained.  This would be perfect.  I'd use Annie's muffins and get my Secret Recipe post, use up some of the strawberries AND have a dish to share at the pitch-in at Chef Joseph's this afternoon. 

Annie is exactly right when she says this is a great base.  And, I agree totally that these are probably the best muffins ever.  If not the best, they're second to the Blueberry Lemon ones....  Oh, and they are super easy to put together!

It certainly was a pleasure getting to know Annie through her blog.  Her personality shines through.  I hope you'll enjoy this recipe as much as I did.  And, I hope you'll hop on over and say hello to Annie!

Ina's Muffins

Ingredients.
3 c flour
1 1/2 c sugar
1 T baking powder
1 1/2 t baking soda
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 c butter, melted and slightly cooled
1 1/4 c milk
1 t vanilla
3 c assorted fruit (I used half strawberries and half rhubarb, Annie used raspberries and blueberries)

Directions:
Mix the dry ingredients in one bowl.  Mix the wet ingredients in another.  Chop the fruit and put it in a third bowl. 

Toss the fruit with the dry ingredients.  Makes sure all the fruit is well coated since that'll help keep it from sinking in the muffins. 

Pour in the wet ingredients and stir just until everything's mixed. 

I topped these with a bit of raw sugar before baking. 

Bake in muffin tins at 375 for 20-25 minutes.  I used large muffin tins so wound up with 10 muffins and about 30 minutes of baking time.  Annie made normal sized muffins and wound up with 18.  We're going to serve these with a compound butter of brown sugar and Rosy Rhubarb Syrup. 

 

 

 

Adapted from Annie's Noms,  Originally from Food Network and Ina Garten.