Raspberry Royal Muffins

Raspberry Royal Muffins

Raspberry picking is a perfect way to savor the fruits of summer. Pick a few, eat a few, and if you have any left when you get home, consider baking a pan of fruit-filled muffins to share with family and friends, or freeze for another day.

Persimmon Hill Berry Farm in the Ozark Mountains near Lampe, Mo., is known for its sumptuous Raspberry Royal Muffins. Once berry-picking season arrives, the muffins are baked fresh daily, using a recipe developed more than a decade ago by local restaurant chef Robert Nicol.

Part of the berry-picking experience at Persimmon Hill is enjoying a warm muffin with coffee or juice on the front porch of the farm’s store or at one of the shaded picnic tables outside.

The muffins are so popular that farm owners Earnie and Martha Bohner ship them to out-of-town visitors via one-day air service. One avid customer in New York takes a Persimmon Hill muffin to her local coffee house when she wants to treat herself to a special breakfast.

You-pick berry farms like Persimmon Hill abound throughout the country, places where you can pick a few pints for the following muffin recipe. Serve them warm, then cool and freeze any extras for up to three months.

Recipe:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup butter ormargarine,softened
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons bakingpowder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 1/2 cups fresh orfrozen raspberries

For topping:

• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Cream together sugar and butter (do not use melted butter, as the muffins will be flat), add eggs, and mix well. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt, and then add these dry ingredients to the butter and egg mixture. Add milk and vanilla, and stir the batter just until dry ingredients are moistened. Gently fold in raspberries. If using frozen berries, do not thaw before adding to the mix. Line muffin tins with paper muffin cups or spray nonstick muffin tins with cooking spray. Fill cups 3/4 full with batter. Top with the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes (a bit longer for jumbo muffins). Muffins are done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Yield: One dozen regular muffins or 6 jumbo muffins.

Karen Levin is a freelance food writer and cookbook author in Highland Park, Ill.

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