All the lemons and limes you have (lemon berry muffins)

You may have thought you heard me say I wanted a lot of lemons and limes, but what I said was: Give me all the lemons and limes you have.

One of my New Year's resolutions was to bake at least twice a month. I got a Microplane zester for Christmas, so it only seemed right that the first thing I bake would be something involved zesting all the citrus I could find.

I was originally going to make the lemon raspberry rolls from Joy the Baker, but didn't want to go on a scavenger hunt through the boys' place for the parts to a stand mixer. Instead, inspired by the yeasty goodness of the rolls, I combined cinnamon roll muffins with lemon raspberry rolls.

Because of the quick rise method, there was a lot of yeast in the dough and the zest/sugar swirled in wasn't enough to overcome the taste. For comparison: this recipe had 4 tsp yeast for 1 1/2 c flour. Another yeasted dough recipe (look for the post later this week) that had two rises only had 2 1/4 tsp yeast for 2 3/4 c flour. The amount of yeast isn't a bad thing, but it does have a noticeable effect on taste. So things I would change:

• Using browned butter instead of oil as the fat
• Mix zest directly into batter
• Toss sugar with berries and layer into batter

Onto the photos!

Lemon Berry Muffins
Adapted from Joy the Baker's Cinnamon Roll Muffins and Lemon Raspberry Breakfast Rolls

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
4 tsp active dry or rapid rise yeast
2/3 cup warm milk (100-110F; low fat is fine)
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg

Filling/Topping
1 heaping cup fresh berries (if using frozen, do not thaw)
1/3 cup sugar plus 1/2 cup sugar for dusting
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted, browned and slightly cooled

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar and salt. Dissolve the yeast in a measuring cup filled with the warmed milk, then stir milk mixture, vegetable oil, vanilla extract and egg into the flour mixture. Mix well, until very smooth. Pour into prepared pan and let rest for 15 minutes.

While the dough rests, mix together the berries, sugar, zest, cornstarch and butter, until all the butter has been incorporated into the sugar and mixture is crumbly. Divide half the batter between 12 greased and floured muffin cups. Sprinkle evenly on top of rested dough and press the mixture down into the dough with your fingertips (or swirl in with a spatula. Top with rest of batter.

Place pan into a cold oven, then set the oven temperature to 350F.

Bake for about 20 minutes, until bread is lightly browned at the edges and the center of the bread springs back when lightly pressed. Some of the sugar mixture on top may still be bubbling.

Serve warm. Leftovers can be reheated in the microwave.