Blackberry Walnut Muffins

Springtime at last and blackberries are appearing by the truckload at local grocery stores. I can't just leave them there...all plump and juicy and on sale! I must take them home...by the bucketload...I'll figure out how to eat them all later. I could gorge myself until I have a stomach ache and permanently stained blue lips. Or, perhpaps I'll make some muffins...

Blackberry Walnut Muffins

Makes 12 small muffins

2 cups of all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1/4 teaspoon of salt
3 tablespoons of flax seeds, ground*
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs, slightly beaten
6 tablespoons of grapeseed oil (or another neutral flavoured oil)
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1/2 cup of low-fat plain yogurt
1 1/2 cups (1-6 oz container) of fresh blackberries, each berry cut into threes
1/2 cup of walnuts, chopped

*Flax seeds can be ground in a blender.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 12-cup muffin tin. Sift flour, baking powder and salt into a large bowl. Stir in flax seeds. In another bowl combine oil, sugar, eggs, vanilla and yogurt. Add wet ingredients to dry, stirring until combined. Gently fold in blackberries and walnuts. Spoon the batter into muffin tin and bake for 25-30 minutes, until muffins start to brown. Let them cool in the pan for a few minutes, and then turn onto wire rack.

Blueberry and Flax Pancakes

Every year when we head off to go camping, I make a list of all the fun food that we can whip up over our single burner Coleman stove. To classify anything I make as a "recipe" is stretching it. It's really a chance to take a vacation from cooking and indulge in some quick ready-to-eat foods that I try to stay away from the rest of the year. Somehow though, these meals prepared outside in the fresh air taste so amazing. Waking up to some strong coffee and a big plate of pancakes after a night under the stars tops it all.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who is thankful for a good "just add water" buttermilk pancake mix while camping. But when I'm back at home with my box of leftover pancake mix, I feel the need to put in a bit of effort, or it feels like cheating.

Enter a box of fresh Ontario blueberries and a healthy dose of ground flax seed for a more nutritious version of the campfire pancake. (Try adding ground walnuts or almonds to the mix for added protein and flavour.)

Yes, I used a mix, but no one is complaining...