Because it’s fall, I’m thinking of raspberries. Because I’m thinking of raspberries, I’m imagining baking all my favorite raspberry treats. I went searching through my archives for an old recipe, and found this post from five years ago….

I pretty much love all fruit, with the random and unfortunate exception of grapefruit, but there is one fruit that I love with a wild and unparalleled passion, and that is the raspberry. I adore it. Everything about it. The color, the shape, the zing, the delicacy, those weird little hair-like things that come out of it. I think when I was growing up I probably never ate fresh raspberries, which is astonishing to me now. Then right after college graduation, I lived out in Washington State for the summer, with a family who lived right on the Columbia River. They had raspberry bushes in their backyard, and in late summer when they became ripe, the woman made fresh crepes and served them plain with fresh raspberries. I will never forget that first bite. Bliss. They’ve been my favorite ever since.

My boys’ first field trip of the school year was yesterday – kids and parents all headed out to pick our own raspberries. We were so ready.

Little Buddha, ready for berry-picking

This time, I was prepared for the fact that the boys were going to want to eat all the berries just standing right there in the field. Oh sure, they played the part of berry harvesters for awhile.

Tiny Dancer, berry farmer

But before long, they ate the few berries in their buckets and began to just shovel them straight into their mouths.

Little Buddha, berry eater

Tiny Dancer, berry eater

Meanwhile, I had to guard my own bucket from their greedy little hands. At the end of the afternoon, I had managed to gather three quarts of berries (at only $3 a quart!). I believe Little Buddha and Tiny Dancer managed to gather about two quarts in their bellies.

who me?

All that harvesting eating knocked Little Buddha out.

on the way home

After we got home, there was still more berry-eating, even as I tried to get dinner ready.

nice block, Little Buddha

raspberry smiles

In the end, I managed to save enough berries for all my Big Plans. First, there were pancakes. The same Vegan Raspberry Chocolate Chip pancakes I made after we went berry-picking last year (recipe at bottom of linked page).

Then this morning, I made Vegan Raspberry Lime Muffins, adapted from this recipe. YUM.

Vegan Raspberry Lime Muffins

Vegan Raspberry Lime Muffins (my adaptation)
2 C flour
1 1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
zest of 1 lime
1/2 C sugar
1 C vanilla soy milk
1/3 C canola oil
juice of 1 lime
1 T red raspberry vinegar
1 C raspberries
Mix dry ingredients. Mix wet ingredients. Pour wet into dry and combine (but don’t overmix). Fold in raspberries. Bake for 20 minutes or so at 400. Let cool in pan for about 10 minutes. Enjoy!

These were so good. SO good.

Here, want one?

Even with all the baking and eating, I have a little more than a quart of raspberries left. I’m considering a version of Raspberry Lime Bread. Or I may try my first-ever jam-making. Or I may just put the berries on the table and let us all simply enjoy. Because honestly, no matter how yummy all these baked goodies are, nothing quite beats the taste of fresh raspberries.