Top of the Muffin to You!

I know Seinfeld wasn't for everyone (so if it isn't your cup of tea I won't try to convert you) but I am definitely a fan (the re-runs still make me laugh).

Last week I had a hankering for my favorite Blueberry Muffins and in the midst of everything I remembered the Muffin Top episode and had to take a minute to chuckle. For those not familiar with it here's a little synopsis... 

Elaine starts eating only the tops of muffins and says that it is a million dollar idea so Mr Lippman (her former boss) decides to start a business (called Top of the Muffin to You!). When the business doesn't work he asks Elaine for help and she tells him that he needs to make the whole muffin and pop the top off from the stump  - she also demands that he remove the exclamation point from the store sign ("It's not top of the muffin, TO YOU!"). Unfortunately this results in excess muffin stumps that Elaine tries to (unsuccessfully) give to the homeless... shenanigans ensue, Kramer tries to take the stumps to the dump and in the end Elaine hires "a cleaner" (Newman) to make the stumps disappear...

 

Is it just me or does the show seem even more bizarre once you try to explain it? 

Naturally, part way through baking I realized I was out of frozen blueberries so I decided to try cranberries and raspberries in some sort of crazy experiment and (surprise!) they turned out great.

Here's the original blueberry recipe and the changes I made... These are my favorite berry muffins and are delicious, even for those stubborn people who "don't like blueberry muffins".

1c. sugar

2/3 c. margarine

2 eggs

1 c. milk

3 c. flour

4 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

2 c. frozen blueberries

Cream together margarine and sugar. Beat in eggs. Mix the dry ingredients together and incorporate into wet alternating with the milk (1/2 dry, all of the milk, rest of the dry). Add the blueberries and scoop into greased and lined muffin cups. Bake for 20 minutes at 350 Degree Fahrenheit.

For the cranberry raspberry muffins above I added one cup frozen cranberries and one cup frozen raspberries as well as some fresh lemon zest. Try cutting the cranberries in half before adding them as they can be a bit large. 

Frozen fruit works bets because it stays together while you mix it into the batter - fresh fruit has a tendency to be squished. I have strayed from plain blueberries and each time they are delicious. Try mixed berries like blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries!

Enjoy!

Calli