What makes these Strawberry & Cream muffins so great?
Who doesn’t love strawberries and cream? Who doesn’t love a muffin? The world has been fascinated by muffins for decades, in-fact, to give you a little history lesson they’ve actually been around as we know them since the 1970’s.
One of the biggest attractions to muffins back then was that they were easily transported and at a time where women were entering full time work, families began looking for ways to have breakfast on the go.
When it comes to these muffins and breakfast, don’t be fooled into thinking the Strawberry content doesn’t make them ‘healthy’ because it’s kind of over shadowed by the sugar. If you want to make these healthy then replacing the sugar with honey or stevia is an option, just bear in mind that this will affect the overall texture and shape of the bake. Calorie content aside (because we don’t count calories here) the reason I love these muffins so much is because they taste unbelievable. Soft, buttery muffins with the delicate taste of strawberries thanks to these 100% natural freeze dried strawberries and creamy white chocolate as the partner in crime.
5 tips to give your muffins the perfect shape and texture
1. Mix wet and dry ingredients in separate bowls
For the best results the wet and dry ingredients should be mixed separately first before they come together. Then make a well with the dry ingredients and add all the wet in one go before you fold it through.
DID YOU KNOW? That sugar in all cases is known as a wet ingredient? No well now you do, every day is a school day.
2. Don’t over mix
The most important step with muffin baking is the moment you combine the wet and dry mixtures. To achieve that rough and crusty muffin top you must resist the urge to beat them together until smooth like cake batters.
With muffins the secret is keeping the batter lumpy so you only want to moisten the dry ingredients with the wet. Once all the wet mixture has been poured into the dry mixture well you only really want to be folding for a few turns. Exposed flour lumps are welcome.
3. Be armed with an ice cream scoop
For consistent and evenly sized muffins the best tool in your kitchen is the ice cream scoop. Not only does this ensure your muffins all come out the same size, but it also makes less mess than other spoons.
4. Don’t fill to the top
To ensure your muffins don’t overflow you only need to fill your cupcakes cases so they’re 3/4 full. Any less and you are unlikely to have the perfect dome and any more and there’s risk of it expanding so much it overflows.
5. Cool down in the trays
Keep the muffins in their trays after baking for 5 minutes. This helps any uncooked batter in the centre finish off and also gives them the chance to firm up a little bit before you transfer them to a wire rack.
If you moved them straight away they’ll be quite delicate so you risk them breaking and if you leave them in the pan too long the steam could cause them to go a little soggy.
How long will these muffins keep?
Not that they will stay around long enough to require it, but these muffins will last approximately 3-4 days if left in an airtight container.
Alternatively they can be frozen in a freezer safe container and will last for around 3 months. To defrost them get them out of freezer and the freezer bag and leave on the kitchen side until completely defrosted.
Strawberries and Cream Muffins
Ingredients
- 100 g freeze Dried Srawberries
- 200 g self-raising flour
- 160 g caster sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 100 ml vegetable or canola oil
- 100 ml yoghurt
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 100 g white chocolate chopped
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 160C and line a muffin tray with 12 muffin cases
- Blitz the freeze dried strawberries in a food processor until you have a strawberry dust
- In a medium bowl combine the oil, eggs, vanilla and whisk together well
- In a separate large bowl add the flour, sugar, strawberry dust and salt and mix together, then create a well and pour the wet mixture into it, followed by the yoghurt.
- Fold everything together gently for 3-4 fold, then add the white chocolate and stir together for 2 more.TIP: you want to be careful with muffins not to overmix. Lumps are welcome so only mix untul the mixture is almost just combined.
- Scoop the muffin mixture into the prepared tray and bake for 20-25 minutes until well risen and golden.
- To finish, crush a handful of freeze dried strawberries and sprinkle them on top of the muffins.
