A New Fangled Prairie Tale

This book is a cute twist on the traditional fairy tale - a bike-riding "Little Red," a muffin-loving Wolf, and a tough-talking Granny. It is a favorite around our house, and we read it at least twice a day. At the end of the story, the recipe for Grandma's Wheat Berry Muffins is included. Every time we read the book, Will asks me to read the muffins' ingredients and directions. Once I have finished reading the recipe Will usually says, "Someday we should make those muffins."

Grandma's Wheat Berry Muffins

makes about 12 muffins

2 eggs

1/2 c. melted butter

1 c. sugar

1/2 tsp. almond extract

1 c. wheat flour

1 c. white flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

2 c. blueberries

1/4 c. sunflower kernels (Grandma's secret ingredient)

Turn on the oven to 350 degrees. In a lareg bowl, mix together eggs, butter, sugar, and almond extract. In another bowl, mix flour, bhaking powder, and salt. Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture. Stir until combined. Gently stir in blueberries and the secret ingredient after making sure there are no wolves lurking about the kitchen. Fill greased muffin tins 3/4 full. Bake 20 to 25 minutes. Taste best when shared.

We were invited to a "Messy Party" tomorrow, and we are to bring a snack to share. I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to try out the recipe, especially since it is suggested the muffins "taste best when shared."

Despite a few snags with the recipe, the muffins turned out really good. Will and Quinn ate so many I lost count, and Grandma also approved of the muffins. Since the recipe said it "makes about 12 muffins," I doubled it. I ended up with 24+ muffins, and approximately 3 dozen mini muffins. When I attempted to add the flour mixture to the egg mixture it was way too dry. I consulted a few muffin recipes in the Betty Crocker Cookbook and decided to add about 2 cups of skim milk. Perfect!