Do You Know the Muffin Mom?

The kiddos waited all week to watch the "Muffin Man" episode on "Imagination Movers." They loved Baker Ben and his forgotten secret ingredient. Today, they woke us up early and insisted on watching it again. And I grew hungrier by the minute as the Movers and guest Duff Goldman, a la "Ace of Cakes," baked pan after pan of muffins.

And so we decided to make some ourselves: strawberry for Bud, like in the show (which doesn't feature a recipe on its website), and chocolate chip for Sis. I don't really have a standard muffin base so looked to Martha Stewart's Baking Handout, where I found this gem, originally the blueberry muffin recipe (because I didn't have the sour cream used to make the basic mix)--"who is Martha?" Sis asked. She'll learn. It made excellent muffins, with a nice crumb and flavor. Sis is already imagining all the different kinds of muffins we can make!

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Sis and Bud's Muffins, a la Martha Stewart

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan

2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pan

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups fresh blueberries (we used 1 cup frozen strawberries, defrosted, for Bud; 1/2 cup chocolate chips for Sis)

1 cups sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup milk

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Generously butter a standard 12-cup muffin pan and dust with flour, tapping out excess; set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Working over the bowl, toss blueberries in a fine sieve with about 1 1/2 teaspoons flour mixture to lightly coat; set aside the flour mixture and the blueberries. (Or skip this part.)

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or using a handheld mixer, beat butter and 1 cup sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until combined. Mix in vanilla.

With the mixer on low speed, add reserved flour mixture, beating until just combined. Add milk, beating until just combined. Do not overmix. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the blueberries.

Or, for our muffins, divide batter into two separate bowls. In one, stir in the strawberries; in the other, the chocolate. Continue . . .

Divide batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups. Bake, rotating pan halfway though, until muffins are golden brown and a cake tester inserted in the center of one muffin comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack to cool 10 minutes. Turn muffins on their sides in their cups, and let cool. Serve warm or at room temperature.

adapted from blueberry muffins in Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook (except, online, she adds 1/4 cup sugar and 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg for crunchy topping; commentors suggest adding a bit of lemon zest to batter)