You can find some pretty awesome things at TJ Maxx or Home Goods…
They have a beautiful selection of dishware, and I’ve even seen Artisana coconut butter on their shelves for as low a $6 a jar! A few weeks ago, I stumbled upon another great find at the Home Goods in Georgetown:
Pure vanilla bean paste—usually retailing for around $13.99—well within its expiration date and yet on sale for the shockingly low price of just five dollars.
Whenever you bring home a new toy, the first thing you want to do is play, right??
That was me with the vanilla bean paste. I threw my keys down and immediately set to work, simultaneously making Homemade Vanilla Bean Ice Cream and the beautiful blackberry muffin recipe you will find below. It’s blackberry season, so now is a great time to indulge.
I know this recipe won’t get anywhere near as popular of a reception as a chocolate or peanut butter recipe (usually the most-popular-flavored recipes I post), but it’s definitely just as blogworthy! And if you can’t find vanilla bean paste at Marshalls, TJ Maxx, or Home Goods (or Williams Sonoma, Whole Foods, or online at full price), you can substitute pure vanilla extract. The flavor will change, but both options are fine.
Vanilla Bean Blackberry Muffins
(adapted from healthy blueberry muffins)
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar or white vinegar (15g)
- 1 cup milk of choice (240g)
- 2 tsp vanilla bean paste (pure vanilla extract will also work)
- 3 tbsp vegetable or coconut oil (30g)
- 2 cups spelt, white, or Bob’s gf flour flour (250g)
- 1/2 tsp plus 1/8 tsp salt
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar of choice or xylitol (100g)
- only if using Bob’s, add 1 tsp xanthan gum
- pinch pure stevia, or 2 more tbsp sugar of choice
- 1 cup fresh blackberries, crushed (150g)
- optional 1/2 cup shredded coconut
Preheat your oven to 350 F. Line a muffin tin with muffin liners. In a mixing bowl, whisk together first 4 ingredients. In a separate bowl, stir together all other ingredients except blackberries. Pour wet into dry, stir until just evenly mixed, then add the blackberries. Gently stir, but only until evenly mixed. It’s very important to not over-stir. Pour batter evenly into the muffin tins and bake 19 minutes. Muffins should look domed when you take them out of the oven. Allow to sit 10 minutes before removing from the tins (and 20-30 minutes if you wish to remove the liners without sticking). Optional, ice muffins with Healthy Glaze Icing. Makes 14-15 muffins.
View Blackberry Muffins Nutrition Facts
Question of the Day:
Do you ever shop at Home Goods or TJ Maxx or Marshalls?
Link of the Day: No-Bake Chocolate Brownie Bites
Casey says
I’ve never thought about TJ Maxx and Marshalls as a kitchen place. How have I missed so many treasures??
Question: If I use a mini muffin tin should I alter the cook time or temperature?
De says
These are AMAZING! I made them in mini-muffins for my work breakfast potluck this morning. I used a whole vanilla bean, and about a teaspoon of vanilla extract. They are so amazingly rich. I feel like it tastes almost like cheesecake. I might make them again this weekend!
Sarah says
I am a CCK fanboy and live nearly nightly off of CCK cookie dough dip and brownie batter. But this is my first comment on a recipe. I thought these were absolutely WONDERFUL. I’m sad you don’t think these will draw the same applause as a chocolate or peanut butter recipe, Kaite. They deserve it. Moist, bursting with flavor, perfect density, and love the differentiation in texture that coconut adds. These rock. We killed the whole batch in two days. I just texted “I miss you” to my husband, and he texted back “I miss those blackberry muffins you made two days ago”. You’ve done it again, Katie. Oh, and I used vanilla extract because that’s all I had. Now I’m on a mission to track down the vanilla bean paste!
Lisa says
Do you think it would be possible to make those with coconut flour? Does it behave in any way similar to regular flour? *clueless* I’m asking bevause I have coconut flour here and don’t really know what to do with it, and from flavour point of view I could very well imagine it 🙂
Jason Sanford says
Coconut flour is extremely different from other flours so I wouldn’t use it here. But here are some of Katie’s coconut flour recipes. I highly recommend the zucchini brownies and the flourless chocolate cake: https://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/tag/coconut-flour/
Carole Valentine says
These look delicious but you really should warn people when you list Xylitol in the recipe (or any recipe) that it is extremely toxic to dogs even in very small amounts. Personally, I would like to see the stuff banned. Too darned easy for a pup pup o grab something containing it, or be fed some of it by an unknowing human.
Jason Sanford says
Unfortunately that’s true about a lot of foods, including chocolate, raisins, and avocados. Not a good idea to give dogs people food in general without consulting a vet first!
Rory says
Hi, I made these because I had blackberries left over from something else I was making and didn’t want to waste them.
I didn’t have white vinegar or apple cider vinegar. I only had white wine vinegar. I was really worried that it was gonna ruin the whole batch but luckily it didn’t. They turned really well. Very mild taste, it really made the blackberries and coconut stand out. I will thoroughly enjoy these with a nice cup of tea.
I will be writing down this recipe and adding it to my cookbox of yummies, I will be making these again. Absolutely loved them.