Blackberry Muffins

I had the wonderful blessing of coming upon a treasure at my local grocery store the other night. As I was walking through the produce aisle with 3 of my kids, I noticed a little cart of blackberries with a huge sign that read "2 for $1.00". My heart started racing as I looked around to see why in the world people weren't mobbing this thing! I snagged about 3 dozen of these little packages, leaving even more because I didn't want to be greedy. Of all times not to have my cell phone! I called my best friend the minute I got home, allowing her to make it in time to snag the last 36! These babies are usually $3 to $4 a carton! They're deliciously sweet in these muffins.

For the topping:

1/3 cup sugar

3 tablespoons flour

grated zest of 1/2 lemon

2 tablespoons butter

1/3 cup pecans, finely chopped

For the Muffins:

2 cups flour

3/4 cup sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

grated zest of 1/2 lemon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 large egg, beaten

5 tablespoons butter, melted

1 cup buttermilk

2 cups fresh blackberries or

2-1/2 cups frozen, unsweetened blackberries,

unthawed

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 12 standard muffin tin with cooking spray. To make the topping, stir together the sugar, flour, and zest in a small bowl. Cut the butter into bits and combine with sugar mixture, using a pastry blender; mix until crumbly. Add the pecans, stir to combine and set aside. To make the muffins, in a bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, zest, and salt. Make a well in the center and add the egg, melted butter, and buttermilk. Stir just until evenly moistened. The batter should be slightly lumpy. Sprinkle with the blackberries and gently fold in with a large rubber spatula, just until evenly distributed, no more than a few strokes. Do not over mix. Spoon the batter into muffin cups, filling it to a bit above the rim of cup. (I think I will use 16 muffin cups next time, only filling them about 3/4 full-they were slightly tricky to remove from the pan. If you like a nice rounded top, just grease the top of your muffin tin well also.) Top each muffin evenly with the crumble mixture. Bake until golden, dry, and springy to the touch, 25-30 minutes. A toothpick inserted in center should come out clean. Transfer pan to a wire rack to cool for about 10 minutes. Un mold muffins.