Currently baking out of Macrina Bakery & Cafe Cookbook by Leslie Mackie

I’ve been searching for the perfect fruit muffin recipe for some time. I’m looking for a master recipe where I can change the fruit according to what’s in season. That’s the same idea behind Mackie’s recipe.

The muffin batter is simply flour, sugar, salt, leavening, eggs, milk and butter. At the end, fresh fruit of your choice is folded into the batter and then baked. The batter itself is only slightly sweet, so it really showcases the flavor of the fruit.

Where to begin? My first problem was with the size of the muffins. Mackie says this recipe makes 6 to 8 muffins but doesn’t tell you what size those muffins should be. With 3 cups of flour, I assumed they made jumbo muffins, so I decided to cut the recipe in half. My next problem was with the leavening. There was just too much of it, and I ended up with flat or concave muffins with a really strange texture to them. But, I liked the flavor of the muffins, so I’ve decided to work on the recipe a bit, and post my results each time.