Blueberry muffins and silicone bakeware

Today, I ate my last cornbread muffin. They were delicious, but all good things must come to an end, and it was time to move onto a new flavor of muffin. My TasteSpotting brought up a picture of some delicious looking blueberry muffins, and I decided that those sounded good.

It helped that the local Harris Teeter was having a sale on blueberries. And yes, I know they're not in season, but we're not going to focus on that.

Aside from a new beginning in muffins, today marks the first day I actually used my silicone bakeware for baking. Months ago I used the heart shaped ones to make Bailey's flavored cheesecake, but it didn't involve baking it. I also tried to eat it after only letting it sit for about two hours, which was a disaster. Mama and Papa Bird flew into the nest the next day and ate all the remaining ones with some friends, and assured me that they were wonderful the next day. If only I had been patient!



But baking with the silicone brought up a big problem for me. Did I spray the liners with Pam, or did I just pray to the cooking gods that it'd turn out okay? Well, I opted to not spray the first batch, just in case you aren't supposed to and it'd ruin them somehow. So if this ruins them, at least it'll only ruin six muffins.

A recent check on the muffins has shown that the berries are rupturing, spilling their delicious juices all over the muffins. They look delicious.

First batch out, and I will confirm that you do not need to spray silicone baking liners, or at least these. Now, these muffins...





I ended up making Chocolate Suze's blueberry muffins, because I loved her pictures. I was a little intrigued by the lack of baking soda or baking powder, but I wasn't concerned because it was supposed to be self-rising flour, and... and then Mama Bird mentioned 'oh, I thought all flour was self-rising.' So I havev extremely dense muffins that did not exactly rise. Despite that, they are not at all bad. Very dense, and not exactly what I'd expect, but definitely tasty. Next time I make them I will put something in them so they actually rise, but my breakfast for the next few weeks is secure, either way.

I am quite impressed by the bakeware, too. I can' tell if the bakeware is a little smaller than my other muffin tins, if it was the lining, or the lack of rising, but we'll find out when I make the next batch of muffins. We'll also find out how well these babies freeze...



And for anyone else who didn't know you can make your all-purpose flour self rising, here is the 'official' formula for converting King Arthur all-purpose flour into self-rising. Take 1.5 teaspoons of baking powder and half a teaspoon salt into a measuring cup, then add fluffed flour into it until you reach one cup. Stir well, with a fork or something, and voilà, one cup self-rising flour.

I'm down to 16 muffins already (I... may have snacked on two and taken two for breakfast the next morning morning), so they won't even make it through February. I accidentally bought too many blueberries, so I have enough for a second batch. We'll see how they taste when I don't mess them up.