Fresh Fruit Muffins versions 1 and 2

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

For the first rendition of Mackie’s recipe, I decided to modify the amount of leavening called for and bake the muffins at a higher temperature (400 degrees versus 375 degrees). I cut the original recipe in half and used 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder (in the original halved version, Mackie called for closer to 3 teaspoons). I also left out the fruit out because I wanted to taste the flavor of the muffins by themselves.

Pulling this batch out of the oven, you could see the difference immediately. This batch had browned nicely and had high, rounded tops. The flavor was good and the texture was much improved over the original.

Onto the second version.

For this version, the only change I made was to add fruit, blueberries in this case. I left everything else the same.

I still got my nicely rounded tops, and the muffins browned well, but they tasted kinda flat and watery. With the added fruit, I think the muffins need to bake a little longer, and I think I need to add some more sugar to the batter. Also, these muffins are just crying out for some sort of topping, such as a struesel.