Recipe: Huckleberry Muffins (or Love Triumphs)

Two of my favorite things to eat have nothing to do with how delicious they taste, and everything to do with the sappy sentiment attached to them.
Case in Point Number One: Have’a Corn Chips are delicious and addicting. But I enjoy eating them the most when I think about the special ingredients listed on the bag — “joy, love, light.” How is that not good stuff?
I lived in Laguna Beach, Calif., a couple of summers a million years ago and was surprised to find out that the delicious chips were made there. And I am one of the rubes who bought the suburban myth that Have’a Chips were made by the local Hare Krishnas. But I’ve always liked the idea of eating “joy, love, and light,” no matter who’s offering them…
Case in Point Number Two: Mollie Katzen’s muffin recipe is simple, easy-to-make, and encourages experimentation with ingredients. You can make cheese muffins, blueberry muffins, or whatever fruit is in season. But again, my favorite part of making and partaking of them is reading the description that Mollie offers in her New Recipes from Moosewood Restaurant cookbook:

It’s early morning. You stumble into the kitchen. Your significant other has left a basket of warm muffins on the table. Love triumphs.

OK, enough about the joys of truly enjoying good food, good recipes, and good love. Here’s the recipe, this time made with huckleberries that my kids and I picked last weekend.

Huckleberry Muffins
(adapted from Muffins in New Recipes from Moosewood Restaurant)
Ingredients
1.75 cups whole wheat pastry flour, unbleached white flour, or a mixture
2.5 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup milk
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup honey or sugar
1 egg
1 cup freshly picked huckleberries, rinsed off and drained
Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Generously butter a 12-cup muffin tin. (I use canola spray.)
3. In a medium bowl thoroughly mx the dry ingredients.
4. In a smaller bowl lightly beat the egg with the milk, oil, and honey or sugar, then add this to the dry ingredients all at once.
5. Stir until the batter is just barely mixed.
6. Spoon the batter into the muffin tin.
7. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.

Variations

• Fold 1 cup drained blueberries (fresh, frozen, or canned) into the batter.
• Add 3/4 cup of grated sharp cheddar cheese and omit the honey or sugar.
• Add a handful of chopped fresh herbs (chives, thyme, rosemary, oregano) and omit the honey or sugar.