One thing that I hear from time to time from folks at the farmers market is “Oh, I can’t ever seem to get through a dozen eggs before they go bad…”. Seeing as how I can use a dozen eggs in one day, I do not relate well to that statement. However, I can relate to the desire to not waste the food that I (or my spouse) have worked hard for to buy and/or grow. The amount of food that gets forgotten about and consequently dumped in the garbage can (or tossed in the compost pile, when appropriate) in American households is staggering–I’ve seen estimates that say, on average, we toss around $2500 worth of food in the trash per year! Wow! Wouldn’t it be nice to have that money back and be able to do something better with it than throw it away? I know that I cringe every time that I stumble upon the leftovers that never got eaten or the last few grapes that were tucked away in the crisper drawer only to now look more like raisins or the slice of bread that could be used for a child’s science fair exhibit on mold. So, that is one thing that I am trying to work harder at this year–decreasing food waste. I was thinking about this the other day when we had some (okay, around 3 dozen!) eggs freeze due to the cold temperatures–what to do with all of those eggs?! Pitch them? I think NOT! Some were hard-boiled, some were scrambled and combined with sausage and peppers, and one was used to make some Delicious (yes, with a capital D!) blueberry muffins. This recipe made me think back to the farmers market folks–if I was in their shoes and had one egg left in my fridge that was closing in on its expiration date, THIS is what I would want to do with it. So, here is my blueberry muffin recipe, in case you have that last egg you are trying to use up:
Ingredients:
Batter
- 1 1/2 c flour
- 3/4 c sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 egg (yep, this is its time to shine!)
- 1/3 c milk
- 1/3 c canola or vegetable oil
- 1 c fresh or frozen blueberries
- the juice and zest of 1 lemon
Crumb Topping (if desired, although who wouldn’t want this atop their muffins?)
- 1/2 c sugar
- 1/3 c flour
- 1/4 c butter, softened but not melted
- 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
Directions
Heat oven to 400F and line your muffin pan with paper liners (or spray with oil). Mix the first four (dry) ingredients together in a bowl. In a separate bowl, mix together the wet ingredients–the egg, oil, and milk. Next, add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, using a rubber spatula to combine gently. If you have a zester or microplane, scrape the zest of 1 lemon into the bowl. Then, add the juice of the lemon (this is what makes the muffins so yummy in my opinion!). Note: if you do not use the zest, at least use the juice, otherwise, your muffin yield will be less. Lastly, gently fold in the blueberries. If you are adding the crumb topping, combine the softened butter, sugar, flour, and cinnamon in a bowl and work the ingredients together using both hands until it becomes crumbly (this will take around 2-3 minutes or so). Your hands will get messy, but it is well worth it! Sprinkle this onto the muffins and bake for ~22-25 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Yield: 12 muffins
My family really enjoys this recipe and I hope you will too!