Concord Grape Muffins

My family has a problem – we cannot pass up a deal.  We recently went to a local  “Grape Festival” – which was super lame and there were no grapes for sale!?!  So on our way home we were determined to find some local Concord grapes, which are in season now – and are only found for a short window of time.  So when we asked the man at this roadside farm stand we passed how much it cost for the large bushel of grapes – and he said “$10” – we were SOLD!     This above photo may not look too imitating – but we split this bushel between four people and I still ended up with 28 cups of Concord grapes, when all was said and done!  It didn’t help that I ended up with the basket and everything that was left for the sole reason of “Well, Christine – you like to cook – so you’ll figure out what to do with them”. 

If you’ve never had a Concord grape – you are really missing out.  They are a true grape flavor and are unbelievably delicious.  The problem is that there are little itty bitty seeds inside – so you have to either remove the skins and cook the pulp and strain out the seeds OR slice them in half and pick out the seeds.   Either way, they do require a bit of prep before you can use them.  Luckily I have experience, since I’ve been making grape pies for several years.  So in addition of two batches of grape pie filling (that I have in my freezer for Thanksgiving), I made several other goodies – since I was determined not to let a single grape go to waste.  And these muffins were the biggest surprise for me – they were super simple to make – and so delicious.  I cannot wait to make them again.     

Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 Tbsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 6 Tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut into 12 pieces
• 1 cup whole milk
• 8 ounces halved and seeded concord grapes
• 2 tsp. coarse sugar, for sprinkling tops

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400º F. Line 12 standard size muffin cups with paper liners.

2. Combine flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk to combine.

3. Add butter and using a pastry blender, or your fingers, blend until it forms a sandy-looking mixture.

4. Pour in the milk and stir, using a wooden spoon, until just mixed and there are no visible traces of flour.

5. Gently fold in the grapes. Spoon into the prepared muffin tins and sprinkle tops with an even amounts of coarse sugar.

6. Bake 20 minutes, until tops are golden and a skewer inserted comes out clean (it's okay if there's grape jam on it). Remove from oven and let cool 10 minutes in the pan, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before serving.

Source: In Jennie’s Kitchen

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