Strawberry season!

Strawberry season is rocking into full swing around these parts, and the Farmers Markets are bursting with color as boxes upon boxes of fresh sumptuous berries await purchase. So naturally, for this week’s year end Family Pot Luck breakfast at my daughter’s school, we decided to make strawberry muffins. One year I will be smart and bring a bottle of juice or something. But that was not my fate this go around, and I must say, the effort was worth it.

The muffins are actually quite simple to make– chopping the strawberries is the most difficult part. Unless you count having a 6 year old sous chef, which tends to turn everything into a somewhat more laborious endeavor than the solo version would have been. Sure it took us twice as long… but we had twice as much fun.

And look at the result!! Worth every minute (and grain of spilled sugar, of which there were many.) Click below for the full recipe, and happy baking!

Full disclosure… I found this recipe somewhat randomly on a food blog called Inspired Taste. It is a sponsored post, so they talk a lot about Gold Medal flour. We ignored that and used our usual organic all purpose flour instead. We also doubled the recipe, hoping to get 24 muffins out of the bargain, but we ended up with 18. We may have been a bit over enthusiastic about filling the cups, but whatever…

Here’s the recipe word for word:

These light and airy strawberry muffins are very simple to make. We love adding a light spice to the batter with cinnamon and finely ground black pepper. The black pepper is a little unusual, but by adding just a small amount it lifts all the flavors in the muffins. Feel free to leave it out, but we highly recommend it.

Yield: 12 muffins

You Will Need:

For the Vanilla Sugar Topping

1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the Strawberry Muffins

1 1/2 cups (210 grams) all-purpose flour, we use Gold Medal
3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon finely ground black pepper
1/3 cup (80 ml) vegetable oil
1 large egg
1/3 – 1/2 cup (80 ml – 120 ml) milk, reduced fat or whole milk are best
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
6 ounces (6 large strawberries or 170 grams) strawberries, hulled and diced (about 1 cup diced)

Directions

Heat the oven to 400º F. Line 12 standard-size muffin cups with paper liners.
Prepare Vanilla Sugar: In a small bowl, stir 1 tablespoon of sugar with a 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla then set aside.
Prepare Muffin Batter: Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and the black pepper in a large bowl until well mixed.
Using a measuring jug that holds at least 1 cup, measure out the vegetable oil. Add the egg then fill the jug to the 1-cup line with milk (this should be 1/3 to a 1/2 cup of milk). Add 1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla extract and whisk until blended.

Pour into bowl with flour and stir with a fork until just combined. Do not over mix. (The muffin batter will be quite thick — see note below for more details). Stir in the strawberries.

Divide batter between the 12 muffin cups. (The batter will come close to the tops of the paper liners). Lightly sprinkle vanilla sugar over muffins.

Bake Muffins: Bake muffins until tops are golden brown, no longer wet and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out with crumbs, not wet batter; 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and cool completely.

Notes and Tips

Storing: These are best eaten the same day. Overtime, they loose their crunchy top. We’ve found it best to place them in a plastic bag, seal, and store in the fridge for to 2 to 3 days then warm just before eating. To freeze muffins, wrap them tightly in aluminum foil or place them in freezer bags, and freeze for up to 3 months.

Batter Thickness: The batter should be thick and scoopable — not runny and not dry or extra thick like bread dough. If the batter is too runny, add flour, a tablespoon at a time until correct consistency. If batter is dry or too thick, add milk, a tablespoon at a time until correct consistency.

We use kosher salt. If you don’t have it on hand, keep this in mind: 1 teaspoon fine sea or table salt = about 1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt.

Read more online here.