Strawberry season is here! I love, love, love fresh and seasonal strawberries and try to enjoy them in any way I can while they are around. Our own patch is starting to slow down now, but the strawberries from our farm share have been getting better each week and have been a big hit with the boys in a variety of ways. Probably the biggest hit (outside of just eating them as is) has been these strawberry muffins. My youngest son fell in love with these at a party in his class and I have adapted the recipe to be a tad healthier and he didn’t notice the difference at all (in fact he inhaled two this morning for breakfast!).
The base for these muffins is quite simple and could be used with any sort of berry you want to add. Blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries would all be delicious! The trick with all the delicate berries is to fold them in very gently at the last minute. This will minimize how much they get broken up and, therefore, how much juice they release in the batter.
Cooking Tip: If you aren’t an experienced baker, “folding” something into a batter means that you gently and carefully mix an ingredient into the batter using a lifting motion rather than a stirring one. The best way to do this is to use a rubber or wooden spatula to go down to the bottom of the bowl, scrape across the bottom, and come back up “folding” the batter on top of the newly added ingredient. You do this gently and carefully until the new ingredient in incorporated. This technique is used for delicate ingredients, such as berries, and also for whipped or beaten ingredients, such as eggs and cream, where you want to keep as much of the air you have added through the whipping or beating as possible.
So give these muffins (and folding ingredients, if that is a new concept to you) a try! I think you will find they are a wonderful way to celebrate this wonderful, and all too brief, strawberry season!
- 1 ½ cups fresh strawberries, sliced
- 2 cups spelt flour (or one cup all purpose and one cup whole wheat)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 1 cup plain yogurt
- ⅓ cup coconut oil (or canola)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- Preheat the oven to 350 and spray the inside of a muffin tin. Wash and gently dry the strawberries. Hull them (cut off the tops) and slice them relatively thinly, about ¼-inch thick.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, soda, salt, and cinnamon.
- In a medium bowl, combine the egg, sugars, yogurt, coconut oil, and vanilla extract. Gently whisk them together so that the egg is well blended. With a rubber or wooden spatula, mix the wet into the dry ingredients. When it is well combined, gently fold in the strawberries.
- Distribute amongst the muffin cups and bake for 20 minutes. Cool on a cooling rack.
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