strawberry muffins

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Someone awesome, noting that I lacked a pastry cutter, sent me one in the mail as a surprise gift! The proper response, of course, was to bake some strawberry muffins.

This recipe is only slightly altered from Helga Lasko's wonderful Wild Blueberry Muffin recipe, printed in Edible Twin Cities magazine. The recipe below makes two muffin tins' worth, but can be halved or doubled as you prefer.

Strawberry Muffins

1.5 cups white (unbleached) flour, sifted or spooned into measuring cup
1.5 cups whole wheat flour, spooned into measuring cup
1 cup granulated sugar
4 tsp baking powder (aluminum-free, if you can find it)
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups fresh or frozen strawberries

Preheat oven to 400F and grease two muffin tins (or one muffin tin and one round pie pan or small square baking dish--the pie pan or baking dish will just take several minutes longer to bake.)

In a large bowl, stir together flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add softened butter and work into flour mixture with nifty pastry cutter (or with your fingers) until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

In medium bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, and vanilla extract.

Prepare strawberries: If using frozen strawberries, measure out two generous cups (to make up for the spaces in between the berries when measuring) and spread on large dinner plate. Microwave for about 30 seconds, or just long enough to make them sliceable with a sharp knife. Slice strawberries into smaller pieces (about the size of blueberries or large raisins).

Add wet ingredients into large bowl with the flour mixture and stir just until moistened. Add sliced strawberries and gently fold them in with mixing spoon. Scoop into muffin tins and bake at 400F for about 20-25 minutes or until slightly golden around the edges and a fork poked in a center muffin comes out clean. Let cool for several minutes, then enjoy with some butter!