Recipe #43: Cranberry-and-Wheat-Berry Muffins

Barley Pecan Muffins

I had quite a challenge finding a recipe on line to match the one in the book, 201 Muffins. That recipe uses 1/2 cup wheat berries, sour cream, and two cups of cranberries. Wheat berries was what stymied me; there are no recipes that use those, and for a good reason, as I found out. They are actually raw wheat kernels, which have got to be very hard. I didn't want to eat muffins with hard wheat kernels in them--after all, how much could they cook in only 20 minutes?

So, next I looked for recipes with wheat flour or something along those lines. I finally found one that seemed to fit the bill: Barley Pecan Muffins. The recipe came from the Canadian newspaper, the Globe and Mail, in their Recipes section. Though the title doesn't mention the cranberries and blueberries called for in the recipe, it does feature barley flour, which I learned is equivalent to wheat berries, and not as hard! So this is the recipe I used.

The muffins came out well, and tasted good. My tasters enjoyed them and they went well with holiday meals. So I rate these 5 out of 5.

Next: Cream Cheese-Filled Muffins with Raspberries.