Tis the season for strawberries in South Carolina! I bought a crate of Cottle Farms berries recently for my annual strawberry bread tradition, something I've been making since I was in high school. This time I went with strawberry mini muffins for easy sharing with a large group. And if you're wondering if mini muffin pans are worth it, yes. Yes they are. Bite sized things are always cuter.
Do you go to you-pick farms for strawberries? I never have, because strawberry picking requires bending down a lot. It looks like a lot of fun for kids, but they are so much closer to the ground than I am. Therefore I'm fine paying a little more per container for someone else to pick them. Berries that are higher up, like blueberry bushes, now those I am totally fine with picking myself! Either way, I overdo it during berry season so the freshest crops are ready to freeze and pull out later in the year.
Strawberry bread is an especially popular Christmas recipe, which is so strange considering it's nowhere near berry season. It must be because of the vibrant red color of strawberries frozen at their peak that makes strawberry bread a Christmas favorite.
Strawberry Mini Muffins
Equipment
- mini muffin pans
Ingredients
- 2 cups fresh strawberries sliced or diced
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 1 ½ cups white sugar
- 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 4 eggs eggs lightly beaten
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degreees F. Butter and flour the muffin tins (four or five mini muffin tins).
- Slice strawberries, and place in a large bowl. Sprinkle lightly with some of the pre-measured sugar and set aside.
- Combine flour, sugar, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda in a large bowl.
- Pour the oil and eggs into the strawberries and stir to coat.
- Add the strawberry mixture to the dry ingredients and blend until dry ingredients are just moistened.
- Divide batter into pans, using a small spoon. Fill each indentation in the muffin tins ¾ of the way full.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes or until an inserted knife comes out clean. Let cool in pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes.
- Turn the muffins out and eat warm or leave to cool.
If you are going to store these in a container for transporting, put a paper towel in the container to absorb any excess moisture that would otherwise result in ugly, sticky muffins when their intended recipients opened the box.
As for the rest of the berries, some turned into jam, and the rest will probably get frozen! But let's be real, I'll be back for another crate before the all too quick season is over.
