I was hanging onto Charlotte’s strawberry muffins recipe for ages with the intent of trying it but just didn’t get around to it until today. With the holidays drawing near and my cousins energetically requesting I make my most wanted Apple Pie again (which one of them just called GLORIOUS *takes a bow) I suddenly remembered my very strawberry intentions. I perused down Lipglossiping.com’s Food Friday aisle to read about her mouthwatering execution of a friend’s Christmas Chutney recipe (totally separate drool cup required) and scrolled down further to get the recipe for these yummy strawberry muffins. I know there’s a group of you that don’t like strawberries. I even have a friend who says he doesn’t like them coz they’re the berries that look like they’re going to explode (deep much), but what’s great about this recipe is you can substitute the “strawbeez” for an equal amount of fruit that you prefer.
You begin with strawberries.
Strawberry Muffins – makes 12 (via Lipglossiping)
375g plain flour
2tsp baking powder
150g caster sugar
170g chopped strawberries (washed, stems removed, and quartered)
2 medium eggs
150ml milk
150ml oil (vegetable or corn maybe)/I used clarified butter (Two 8 0z. Anchor butter bars) but didn’t follow Charlotte’s reco. If you want sweeter pastry follow her lead. (Charlotte: “I usually substitute half for apple sauce”)
PROCEDURE LINK here via Lipglossiping.com
What’s to love as well about this recipe? These take about 15 mins+ to assemble once you have everything you need on the table and about 20-25 minutes in the oven. Read More to see all behind-the-scenes photos I took while making these pretty, yummy muffins, things I did differently, and read a few observations I made about the process.
You can follow the procedure to make these muffins here via Lipglossiping.com. I mentioned that I substituted oil in Charlotte’s recipe for clarified butter. That is because I wanted buttery tasting strawberry muffin pastry and I was comfy enough in the kitchen today to take the longer route towards muffin perfection. Please note that choosing to do this with clarified butter will add approximately 15 minutes more to the entire process because of having to cook and cool the clarified butter before doing the final combination. I followed a YouTube demonstration on how to make clarified butter at this link. Clarified butter is not just melted butter. You melt butter first and make it simmer at very low heat and the white milk solids go to the bottom then you ladle and remove the foam that forms on top constantly until you notice that the golden liquid becomes clear. I wouldn’t make my butter reach a full boil, I’d make it simmer at low heat and take the saucepot on and off the stove if it would begin to boil too much, it should be “blipping” but not reach a frantic boil.
IMPORTANT: Cool your clarified butter to room temp before combining with the eggs and milk otherwise the eggs will cook because of the heat and ruin the mixture and you don’t want that to happen. I cooled it my own way and filled a bowl partly with cold water and let the glass measuring cup with the newly clarified butter sit in the bowl until it cooled down.
While waiting for clarified butter to cool you can make sure your oven has begun preheating to 190 degrees celsius because the combining part is pretty quick.
Then like Charlotte mentioned in this procedure via Lipglossiping.com, mix the dry ingredients, put the sliced (quartered) strawberries on top of the dry ingredients in the dry bowl, lightly whisk the wet ingredients together in a separate bowl, then combine wet and dry mixes in 1 bowl with a folding motion and fill the muffin tray, make sure you don’t overmix. She says its okay to see some dry bits of flour randomly throughout the mixture as long as the entire thing is evenly combined. When I fill my muffin tray I like doing it a little bit more rustic, no OC vibes, each muffin is allowed to be itself, different from the rest, so they come out a little bit more explosive when they rise. I only suggested that you press in the batter at the bottoms a bit more before getting rustic at the top, to avoid holes (based on experience).
By the time you’ve filled up your muffin tray for exactly 12 muffins, your preheated oven should be ready, stick in your muffins and set the time for 20-25 mins. You’ll have to check on them and make sure they finish a toasty golden color with brown bits on some edges (not brown entirely). When you think they’re done stick in a fork or knife cleanly through the middle of a muffin, if you pull out and it’s clean, not smeared wet with batter (moist is okay) then they’re done!
I like the way these muffins turned out, bursting with strawberries. I just wish I had better tasting strawberries, these Driscoll ones from S&R aren’t as sweet as Baguio strawberries. I plan to adjust and toss the strawberries next time in sugar before combining. I also plan to adjust the pastry and do what Charlotte said which is substitute half the oil or butter for apple sauce so I have a sweeter muffin. After baking cool for 10-15 mins then serve. Enjoy, but remember, many muffins (especially these) make a muffintop, so exercise and eat muffins moderately.
