Blackberry-sour cream muffins

On weekend mornings I arise before Gene by at least 2 hours.  I'm enjoying these quiet mornings while I have them, knowing that once our little boy arrives I may well lose the morning solitude for, oh, a decade or more.

My favorite way to pass the morning hours is to brew a pot of tea, make a pastry of some kind, and read the paper with the dog snuggled on my legs.  I make some kick ass scones and considered it this morning but ruled them out in lieu of muffins.  Last weekend we bought a half-flat of mixed raspberries & blackberries at the farmers market.  There was still a half pint of blackberries left and I thought they'd mix into a muffin batter better than into a scone dough.

I started out with my favorite muffin recipe, and tweaked it just a bit to accomodate for ingredients I had in the house and to make them a little sweeter.  If you have some lemon zest, throw that into this recipe to make it even better. 

BLACKBERRY-SOUR CREAM MUFFINS

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
1/2 t cinnamon
1/4 t salt
1/4 c lemonade
2 T vegetable oil
1 t vanilla extract
1 cup low-fat sour cream
1/8 c milk
1 large egg
1 cup fresh blackberries

Cooking spray

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl and mix with a fork.
3. Combine all wet ingredients in a measuring cup and mix with a fork.
4. Dump wet into dry and stir until just barely incorporated. Do not overmix.
5. Fold in berries.
6. Spoon batter into muffin tins.
7. Bake for 18 mins or until wooden pick comes out clean.
8. Remove muffins immediately & cool on a rack

By the way, if you're wondering why muffins should be removed from the tin ASAP, it's because they'll steam themselves soft if left in the tins.  Nobody likes a gooey muffin (except chickens, which aren't known for having discerning tastebuds).