Strawberry muffins are tender and fluffy, made with yogurt, lots of ripe berries and a light streusel topping. Hello breakfast!
You’ve got to think on your feet during strawberry season. When you happen upon perfectly ripe berries like I did at the farmers market this week, you want to have a few great strawberry recipes at the ready, else you’ll end up downing your sweet treasure, one by one, before you can even tuck a towel into your waistband and preheat the oven. Simple strawberry muffins are just one of those strawberry recipes I’m already dreaming about as I bag up my fruit.
why this strawberry muffin recipe??
- There’s yogurt in the batter, and it’s the acidity in yogurt that reacts with baking soda to produce carbon dioxide gas that helps the muffins rise, making them light and fluffy.
- The acidity also helps tenderize the gluten in the flour, preventing the muffins from becoming tough.
- I use a heavy hand with the vanilla (actually I love to use vanilla bean paste, if you can get your hands on it) and this creates a lovely flavor pairing with the berries.
- The light streusel topping adds textural interest and an extra hint of sweetness to the muffins.
what you’ll need
As you see, aside from the strawberries this is totally a from the pantry muffin recipe.
- strawberries
- depending on their size I’ll halve tiny berries, slice medium ones, or chop large ones.
- vegetable oil
- sugar
- eggs
- vanilla bean paste or extract
- the vanilla flavor with strawberries is a wow combination. You could also use almond extract.
- yogurt or buttermilk
- I love to bake with cultured buttermilk, but lately I’ve discovered that drinkable yogurt works just as well and has the same consistency.
- baking soda, baking powder, and salt
- all purpose flour
- butter
- just a tablespoon soft butter for the streusel
related: Strawberry Buttermilk Cake
tips for baking strawberry muffins
I like to make the streusel topping first. Note that it’s got a dry consistency, but do mix it thoroughly with your fingertips to get the butter completely incorporated.
I wash, dry, and hull the strawberries but don’t slice or dice them until just before I combine the wet and dry muffin batter ingredients. This is because I don’t want the fruit to start releasing moisture as it sits.
Take the old adage seriously ~ don’t over mix your batter. Fold the dry into the wet and before that’s completely accomplished, add the berries so you aren’t endlessly folding.
Scoop the batter directly into the muffin cups, don’t wait. If you like to let your batter sit for 30 minutes, do it after filling the muffin pan. This is so you don’t disturb the batter too much after it has begun expanding.
Pop a few extra berries on the top of the muffins before adding the streusel. This makes them extra pretty.
of course I’ve got more strawberry recipes
- Salmon with Strawberry Salsa
- Strawberry Panna Cotta
- Strawberry Rhubarb Smoothie
- Strawberry Banana Bread
- Fresh Strawberry Frosting
- Strawberry Sheet Pan Pancakes
Strawberry Muffins
Equipment
- standard muffin pan
- paper muffin liners
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup yogurt, drinkable yogurt, or buttermilk
- 1 Tbsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
- 2 cups strawberries, thinly sliced or chopped
streusel topping
- 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 3 Tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 Tbsp unsalted butter at room temperature
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375F and line a muffin pan with paper muffin liners.
- Make the streusel first: combine the ingredients and rub together with your fingers until the butter is incorporated and the mixture has a dry crumbly texture. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the oil, sugar, and eggs until well combined. Whisk in the milk and vanilla.
- In a separate bowl whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together.
- Fold the dry ingredients into the wet, and then gently fold in the strawberries.
- Fill muffin cups, and sprinkle streusel evenly over the top of the muffins. Depending on the size of your muffins this recipe will make 12-16 muffins.
- Bake for about 20 minutes or until the muffins bounce back when lightly touched on top. Be aware that your baking time can vary depending on the size of your muffins and your particular oven.
- Serve warm with butter! Store leftover muffins loosely covered on the counter.
Can I use frozen strawberries?
Frozen strawberries can work in muffins, as long as you treat them right. Don’t thaw them first, just chop them while they’re still frozen and toss them in a bit of flour before folding them into your batter. That helps soak up some of the extra moisture and keeps them from sinking. You might need to tack on a couple extra minutes of bake time, but the flavor payoff is totally worth it.
Just finished these. Hubby and I are very pleased. Needs must: didn’t have yogurt and so subbed sour cream. I wonder what turbinado sugar would be like in the streusel? I like my strawberries when I use it on them.
Glad you enjoyed these, and I bet the sour cream made them nice and rich. I don’t see why you couldn’t use turbinado in the topping, go for it!
You said they were tender. I think the sour cream gave them more body, while still light and fluffy.
I’ll try it.