Baking could be considered a hard sell in January, but I am a firm supporter. It's not that these muffins are remarkably healthy or particularly suitable for the often-austere themes of the month, but they are a return to an everyday kind of baking after the gloriously immoderate productions of December.
These muffins are low effort and can be knocked together fast enough to fit into midweek schedules. With little attention, I can make the batter in the time it takes for the oven to preheat. And they're not utterly without dietary virtue. Relatively reserved when it comes to sugar, with whole-grain barley flour and pecans offering a woollen crumb, these are muffins in the true sense, not cupcakes in disguise. Brawny and well-sized, with a wide cap, a proper rounded peak and a sturdy, golden crust, these are muffins meant to keep coffee company in the morning or stave off hunger after school.
You'll notice the berries in the photo do not make it into the title of the recipe. The batter is the main attraction here, and is a suitable canvas for the fruit of your choice: Don't let the listed cranberries and blueberries hold you back. After the holidays, I swirled in some cranberry chutney sharpened by ginger and fully seasonal with clementine zest and juice. Forced rhubarb would be apt – cooked down to a compote or diced small – or consider a smudge of marmalade as a filling. The fresh fruit could be replaced with dried, such as figs or dates plumped in hot tea, then met with chopped dark chocolate in the batter. Or shelve the fruit entirely and run with the chocolate alone.
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Notes
The combination of high baking temperature and lack of liner helps the muffin bottom develop as much of a crust as the top. If liners are preferred, the bottoms will be more delicate.
I like nuts in muffins for the texture they add; to leave them out, replace with an equal amount of one of the flours.