Last night when I walked to Berkeley bowl to get fresh ingredients for my Summer Panzanella, I noticed the array of beautiful berries that usually appear in bounty during the summer. I grabbed a box of blackberries and the necessary ingredients to make up some muffins.

Cooking before coffee can be an interesting experience. This time, a combination of zoning out and being super excited about blackberries resulted in using the mixer on high to blend in the berries. This created what I deemed as the blue man muffins. Word of warning, just gently fold in the berries. If you use a mixer, you muffins will appear blue… similar to the ones pictured in this post.

My very blue, but tasty, muffins

Whole Wheat Blackberry Muffins

Dry Ingredients: 
1 1/4 Cups whole wheat flour 
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup pulsed oatmeal 
1/2 tsp salt
Wet ingredients: 
1 egg
1 Tbs melted butter
1 cup sour cream
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup brown sugar
zest of one Meyer lemon
Juice of 1/2 the lemon
Berries!

1) Wash and dry the berries

2) In a medium bowl mix dry ingredients and set aside

I use my small food processor to refine the oatmeal, it works great with little mess.

3) In a large bowl, melt butter and froth egg. Whisk in the rest of the wet ingredients.

I love the taste of lemon in muffins. I used Meyer lemons as they tend to be sweeter. I also sprinkled 1/2 tsp of sugar on the berries before I mixed them in.

4) Mix in the dry ingredients.

5) Using a wooden spoon, gently fold in the berries.

6) Make the topping. Chop up the cold butter into small cubes. Using your hands, mix in the butter, sugar and flour until the mixture crumbles. Sprinkle over muffins.

For the Topping: 
1/3 cup sugar
2 Tbs cold butter
3 Tbs flour

7) Add topping and bake in greased muffin pan for about 15-20 minutes at 350 degrees.