Yum

I love brunch. I really do. I am in a book club with several of my friends, and we frequently schedule our meetings as a brunch….or rather, we use book club as an excuse to have carbs and mimosas. These blueberry rumchata muffins are the perfect item for a boozy brunch. Packed with juicy blueberries, pecans, brown sugar, and rumchata, these jumbo bakery-style muffins are full of toasty spices that will help you get in the mood for fall!

blueberry rumchata muffin surrounded by ingredients

Did I really NEED a jumbo muffin tin? I mean. Yes.

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I really like shopping, ESPECIALLY for baked goods and school supplies. So, of course I love Michaels. My husband and I have both started new teaching jobs, and we have been working on decorating our classroom, so we headed over to our local Michaels to look for bulletin board supplies and decorations and whatever else I don’t have the willpower to stop myself from buying.

I have a love-hate relationship with the baking aisle at this particular Michaels, as it is filled with lots of super cool baking tools that are both IRRESISTABLE TO ME, and also single-purpose. You know, the sorts of items that work for one particular baking project, and then just take up space in your cabinets for years. Silicon moulds shaped like worms and spiders, sprinkles that look like unicorns, dough whisks….you get the idea. I have collected lots of these sorts of items over the past few years, and I dread having to walk through this little baking wonderland and exercise self-control. Until we move, I have pretty much used up every available inch of cabinet space in my life, and I absolutely should not be buying more STUFF.

On our most recent trip to the craft store, I decided I could handle a casual stroll down this aisle. I wouldn’t buy anything, looking never hurt anyone.

Me: Disinterested mosey past the specialty pans.

Me: Notices jumbo muffin tin.

Me to self: you already have two sizes of muffin tins. You certainly do not need a third.

Me: cheerfully chucks muffin tin in cart.

So, here we go. Blueberry muffins. At least a recipe is coming out of my lack of financial thriftiness and utter disregard for my lack of storage space.

I’m so tired, but I love my new job.

Do you know what makes summer feel short? When the previous summer was five months long.

The first week of school is always exhausting, but I think it has felt particularly so this year, especially for students. Guessing by the way that they all seemed to be walking through a fog by Friday, we are all going to need to rebuild our endurance.

HOWEVER, I have to say that I am loving being back the classroom. I had a lot of doubts and dark moments last year, and I made a huge leap and jumped into a new position this year. Change is always pretty durn terrifying for me, but I love my new co-workers, I can already tell that I am going to love my new students, and I feel refreshed in the way I am able to energetically tackle my days. I’m slowly discovering exactly how miserable I was last year, and I am constantly astounded by how much better I feel right now. I know it won’t all be roses and I’m in a honeymoon period, but dang. I forgot that I am, in fact, a good teacher. How did I forget that?

I feel like I really missed the boat on having a “thirty and thriving” year during the Pandemic. In many ways, I felt like everything I did last year was a failure. Teaching was hard. Geez, getting out of bed was hard. Maybe this year can be a do-over for me.

My dear friends got me this framed quote for my birthday last week. Inexplicably, it made me cry HARD the first time I read it, and I’m going to live by it this year.

“For what it’s worth, it is never too late, or, in my case, too early to be whoever you want to be. There’s no time limit, stop whenever you want. You can change or stay the same, there are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it. I hope you make the best of it. And I hope you see things that startle you. I hope you feel things you never felt before. I hope you meet people with a different point of view. I hope you live a life you’re proud of. If you find that you’re not, I hope you have the courage to start all over again.” -F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Ok, sorry. Back to these Blueberry Rumchata Muffins.

Blueberry Rumchata Muffins: the elements.

It’s time to start thinking about fall flavors, and these blueberry rumchata muffins are packed with them. Comforting brown sugar, pecans, cinnamon and spices, and of course that yummy Rumchata.

The dough is very easy to put together! It is made with simple ingredients that you probably have on hand. Butter, sugar, brown sugar, flour, eggs, sour cream, baking powder and soda, vanilla, and spices. Add in your flavor with rumchata, pecans, and blueberries, and you’re ready to go.

I may be basic, but I think Rumchata is delicious. It’s like….a cinnamon milkshake? With booze? Or something?

I will say, if you don’t like it, don’t put it in these muffins. The blueberries sort of soak up the rumchata and you can taste it prominently in the finished product. I loved that, but if that isn’t your thing, no worries. Just sub out the rumchata for some whole milk. Check out my other boozy bakes here if you DO like a little tipsiness in your dessert! Also, these little bottles were too cute. How could I not use them?

For this recipe, I used jumbo muffin cups, but you could also make them in a standard muffin tin or in a mini muffin tin, which is my new favorite kitchen item because it is so stinking cute.

Blueberries are one of my favorite fruits, and there’s such a short window during the summer that you can get really delicious berries locally, so I always try to take advantage of it.

blueberry rumchata muffins with ingredients

When I was a kid, my mom would sometimes serve me fresh blueberries covered with milk and sprinkled with a tiny bit of sugar, and I thought it was THE BEST THING. Good job, Mom, you made me love fruit by pretending it was dessert. If you are looking for other ways to use up your blueberries by the end of the summer, my cutesy lemon blueberry sandwich cookies are another delicious option!

As you will see below, I am trying to get back to making guided recipe videos. They are a pain in the butt, but I know people appreciate them. Darn it, tik tok, you are ruining the beauty of the written word.

Have some fun in your kitchen, keep baking, and let me know what you think of this recipe!