STRAWBERRY MUFFINS

I have read several of Joanne Fluke's Hannah Swensen Mystery books and shared several of the recipes from the books. These Strawberry Muffins were featured in Double Fudge Brownie Murder. I decided to make them for three reasons - I had some fresh strawberries I needed to use up, I also had some homemade strawberry jam that I made, and we didn't have anything "sweet" in the house to eat. Since I was making them for us and I don't like to add sugar to fruit recipes, I used stevia for the sugar in the muffins. I did go on and use the sugar for the topping though. 

PRINT just the recipe.

STRAWBERRY MUFFINS

Batter:
3/4       cup butter
1          cup sugar (I used stevia)
2          beaten eggs
2          teaspoons baking powder
1/2       teaspoons salt
1/2       teaspoons  cinnamon
1          cup fresh or frozen sliced strawberries (not necessary to thaw if using frozen)
2-2/3    cups flour
1/2       cup milk
1/2       cup strawberry jam

Crumb Topping:
1/2       cup sugar
1/3       cup flour
1/4       cup butter (1/2 stick)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease the bottoms only of a 12-cup muffin pan.

Melt the butter. Mix in the sugar.

Add the baking powder, salt, cinnamon and then the eggs.(I combined the sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon first and

added the eggs.

Mix thoroughly.

(I had to move the mixture to a bigger bowl before I add the rest of the ingredients.)

Put 1 tablespoon of flour in a ziplock bag with the sliced strawberries.

Shake to coat the berries and leave them in the bag until you are ready to add them to the batter.

Add the flour and

milk alternately to the mixture starting and ending with the flour mixing well after each addition.

Add the jam to mixture and

stir to evenly mix in the batter. (I had to change to my spatula.) 

Fold in the flour-coated sliced strawberries.

 

Fill the muffin cups 3/4 full.

(I used my ice cream scoop and that worked great.

I had just a little bit left in the bowl

so I filled in "cups" that looked a little less filled.)

Prepare the crumb topping by mixing the sugar and the flour in a small bowl.

Add the butter and cut it in until it's crumbly.

(I cut the butter in pieces and used my hand/fingers to create the crumbs to work in the butter piece by piece.)

Fill the rest of the muffin cup with the topping.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes.

Cool muffins in pan on wire rack for 30 minutes before removing to enjoy or

finish cooling completely.

(I ran a knife around the inside of the cup to loosen the muffin to remove it easier.)

Joanne (Hannah) said, "They are wonderful when they're slightly warm, but the strawberry flavor will intensify if you store them in a covered container overnight."