Whole-Grain Blackberry Spice Muffins

I'm gonna be honest with you. I wasn't sure if these were good enough to post. I thought they were okay, but I know I was jaded by having made the Amazing Blueberry Muffins just a few days earlier. But then I took them to my monthly 7 am church meeting. Every month since December I've been bringing muffins to the meeting, always one or two new kinds to try out. And after the August meeting, one friend said, "Kari, I like all the muffins you've brought, but I think these are the best ones yet."

Really. Now that is saying something because I've brought a lot of muffins to these guys. So I looked at them in a new light and took another bite. He's right, you know. These are pretty darn good.

Whole-Grain Blackberry Spice Muffins
2 cups all-purpose flour (about 9 ounces)
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon apple-pie spice (or pumpkine-pie spice)
1 cup fat-free milk
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 1/2 cups frozen blackberries (about 8 ounces)
Cooking spray
1/4 cup granulated sugar

2 tsp lemon or orange zest

1. Coarsely chop frozen blackberries, and place them back in the freezer until ready to stir into the batter. Preheat oven to 400°.

2. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 6 ingredients (through apple-pie spice) in a large bowl. Make a well in center of mixture. Combine milk, butter, vanilla, and egg in a small bowl; add to flour mixture, stirring until just moist. Gently stir in blackberries.

3. For the topping, gently combine 1/4 cup sugar with lemon or orange zest.

4. Spoon 1/4 cup batter into each of 17 paper-lined muffin cups coated with cooking spray. Sprinkel muffins evenly with sugar topping. Bake at 400° for 17 to 22 minutes, rotating once during baking, until muffins spring back when touched lightly in center. Cool in pans 10 minutes on wire racks. Makes 17 muffins

Recipe from Cooking Light, January 2006