Huckleberry Lemon Muffins

I've made lemon poppy seed muffins or other lemony baked goods before in the past and I always struggled with getting enough lemon flavoring. I'd add a butt load of zest and still it wasn't to my satisfaction. I recently discovered in a recipe from Sweet Peas Meals (I'll talk about my love for that a little later), that you need to rub the lemon zest into the sugar to create a "lemon sugar" for the muffins. It makes a huge difference! The muffins are bursting with lemony goodness! Plus my toddler had a blast helping me and playing in the sugar like it was the sandbox (don't worry! He washed his hands!).

Back in the good old days when Dusty and I use to stay up late, sleep in, and not watch television with the name "Junior" in the title of the channel, we use to love eating out. When we lived in Missoula, one of our favorite places to go for a night out was the Iron Horse Bar & Grill. Of their many fun and fruity drinks, my favorite drink was a huckleberry lemon drop. As much as I loved it, I could only handle a few sips because I'm such a cheap date (just ask Dusty), but boy was it good! I also love a good huckleberry lemonade (recipe to follow shortly!). Like I said before, it's a wonderful flavor combination.

If you don't have huckleberries on hand, you can always use blueberries. I'm running low on my freezer supply, so I see myself using blueberries in the very near future.

Huckleberry Lemon Muffins
Servings: 12

• 2 cups Cake Flour
• 1/2 tablespoon Baking Powder
• 1/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt
• 1/2 cup Salted Butter, softened
• 1 cup Sugar
• 1 Lemon; zested & juiced
• 1/2 cup Whole Milk
• 2 Eggs
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 1 cup frozen or fresh Huckleberries

Preheat the oven to 350(F) and line a muffin tin with paper muffin liners. In a bowl, whisk to combine the cake flour, baking powder and kosher salt; set aside. In a small bowl, combine the sugar and lemon zest. Using your fingers, massage the zest into the sugar to create the "lemon sugar." In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the lemon sugar and softened butter until light and fluffy. Add in the eggs, lemon juice, vanilla and milk and continue to beat together until combined. On the lowest speed, add in the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Then add in the huckleberries and continue to mix until just combined. Using a large scoop, divide the batter into the lined muffin tin, about 3/4 full. Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown with the center coming out clean with a toothpick. Cool on a wire rack and then enjoy!

Recipe Inspired by: Sweet Peas Meals