Happy Beltane! As mentioned in my previous post, this day marks the halfway point between the spring equinox and summer solstice. It traditionally involves a sweet, floral baked good, so I decided to create a new recipe!
I based this recipe on one from another website, but changed it up with herbs and spices; my version became Lavender-Cardamom Blueberry Muffins. Since lavender honey cakes are pretty traditional for Beltane, this is sort of a twist on that idea. My kids helped me bake these, and they really loved eating them, too!
Lavender-Cardamom Blueberry Muffins
PREP 10 min | COOK 20 min | TOTAL 30 min
Ingredients:
•1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
•3/4 cup granulated sugar, plus 1 tablespoon for muffin tops
•1/4 teaspoon salt
•2 teaspoons baking powder
•1/2 to 1 tablespoon dried lavender, to taste
•1/4 teaspoon finely ground cardamom powder
•1/3 cup canola or vegetable oil
•1 large egg
•1/3 – 1/2 cup milk, dairy or oat
•1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
•6 to 8 ounces fresh or frozen blueberries (about 1 cup)
Directions:
Prep—
Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Line muffin tin with 8-10 paper liners, depending on your preferred muffin size.
Batter—
• Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, lavender, and cardamom in a large bowl.
• Add oil to a glass measuring cup that holds at least 1 cup. Add the egg, then fill the jug to the 1-cup line with milk (1/3 to 1/2 cup milk). Add vanilla and whisk to combine.
• Add milk mixture to the bowl with dry ingredients and use a wooden spoon to combine. Do not over-mix. (The muffin batter will be fairly thick. Fold in the blueberries.
Bake—
• Fill the muffin cups with batter. (If making big-topped muffins, the batter will come to the tops of the paper liners). Sprinkle a little sugar on top of each muffin.
• Bake muffins 15 to 20 minutes or until tops are no longer wet and a toothpick inserted into the middle of a muffin comes out with crumbs, not wet batter. Transfer to a cooling rack.
The Herbology Faerie 