Living the Strawberry Muffin Dream

Strawberry Cream Muffins

When I was younger I started baking, well by that I mean I would made chocolate chip cookie dough and eat most of it and then make some cookies with the leftover dough. Not the healthiest thing but eating cookie dough is like a right of passage or something. I’d help mum out when she would make peanut butter cookies too, Auntie Eileen’s recipe of course using a specific brand of peanut butter – OK I do that because I really like my Kraft peanut butter.

Anyways…as I got older I started to venture out and expand my baking skills beyond chocolate chip cookies. So I made other types of cookies, and slowly but surely I began to get the hang of different baking techniques and understanding how to substitute ingredients or invent my own things.

These were originally intended to be Raspberry muffins per the recipe in my Taste of Home Cookbook. However, the night I decided to make these my raspberries had gone moldy, the store was fresh out of raspberries when I went to go get more, so I opted for another one of my favorite berries: strawberries. And it worked out marvelously!

Grab your muffin tray and some cupcake/muffin liners we’re getting started!

When it comes to baking, I’ve found the easiest way to not get yourself in a flustered mess (yes it’s happened before and will most certainly happen again…as I have flashbacks to the time I dropped an almost full bag of flour on the floor and engulfed myself in a white cloud…oops.

That means get your ¼ cup of butter out of the fridge, finely chop up 1 cup of fresh strawberries, and do the same with 1 cup of white chocolate chips.

Toss your cup of chopped strawberries in ¼ cup of sugar and set aside. Then grab a large bowl and cream your butter and ½ a cup of sugar. I use my hand mixer as it’s much easier to get the right consistency but if you really want to…use a mixing spoon and some good old-fashioned muscle.

Beat in an egg and ½ teaspoon each of vanilla and almond extract. Use the actual extracts none of that imitation crap. As with all baking, do not over mix!! Set this bowl aside and get to mixing together your dry ingredients in a separate bowl (2 ¼ cups of flour, 1 tablespoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon salt).

Add your dry ingredients into the butter/egg/extract mix, alternating with 1 cup of half-and-half cream. Mix JUST until moistened. Then you’ll stir (by hand) in the white chips and strawberries.

Pre-heat your oven to 375 degrees F. Line your muffin tray, or if your feeling daring grease the muffin tray and take your chances of the muffins coming out cleanly. Fill the muffin cups three-fourths full, make sure they’re even so the muffins bake evenly. Before you bake the muffins take 2 tablespoons of granulated white sugar and 2 tablespoons of brown sugar; mix them together and sprinkle on top of the batter.

Bake for about 25 minutes, test them out around the 22-minute mark – cooks times vary depending on your oven, altitude, etc. You may need to bake the muffins up to 30 minutes. You want a toothpick to come out clean, but you also don’t want to dry out the muffins.

Best served warm and eat them within a few days. They’re great for breakfast, snack, dessert with coffee or tea.

Simple Straight Forward Recipe:

1 cup fresh strawberries – finely chopped

¾ cup, plus 2 tablespoons, sugar – divided

¼ cup butter (unsalted), softened

1 egg

½ teaspoon almond extract

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour (I use closer to 2 ½ cups due to my location)

1 tablespoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup half-and-half cream

1 cup finely chopped white chocolate chips

2 tablespoons brown sugar

-In a small bowl toss the strawberries in ¼ cup of sugar, set aside

-In a large bowl cream the butter and ½ cup sugar until light and fluffy

-Beat in the egg and extracts

-In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt

-Alternate mixing the dry ingredients and the half-and-half cream into the butter/sugar mix; careful not to over mix, end with the dry ingredients

-Stir in chocolate chips and strawberries

-Line muffin tray (or grease it), fill muffin cups three-fourths full

-Combine remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar with 2 tablespoons of brown sugar, sprinkle over the batter

-Bake at 375F for 25-30 minutes; checking around 22 minutes

-When toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean muffins are ready

-Serve warm and eat within a few days

Most importantly...enjoy!!

'Til Next Time! :)