Strawberry Lemon Muffins

After trying a handful of new strawberry recipes, I have to say that this recipe was my new favorite. I’ve never combined lemon and strawberries in a baked good before, so glad I gave it a try. The combination of sweet and tart is what made these muffins so good. They’re also pretty to look at too.

When baking muffins or cupcakes, I always let the kids pick out the liners for the pan. AG picked these out to match the lemons on the table. Girl after my own heart!

The fresh strawberries really made this recipe. The muffins are extra moist when you bite into them and then the lemon zest gives you that final tang. These muffins are full of flavor.

The recipe only makes 12 muffins, so if you’re making them for neighbors or friends, I would definitely recommend doubling it. I made them for breakfast for the week and passed the rest on to our neighbors. This recipe will definitely be one I pull out whenever I have fresh strawberries, perfect for spring or summer.

Enjoy!

Serving Size: 12 muffins

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup milk I used almond
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 large egg
• 1 lemon juiced and zested
• 1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 cup fresh strawberries chopped

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a muffin pan with liners. Spray muffin liners with cooking spray to prevent the muffins from sticking once baked.
2. In a large bowl, beat together the milk, oil, sugar, egg, and lemon juice.
3. In a separate bowl, mix the lemon zest, flour, salt, and baking powder.
4. Mix together wet and dry mixture, do not over mix.
5. Fold in strawberries until combined.
6. Fill muffin cups about 3/4 full with the batter.
7. Bake 20-22 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
8. Allow to cool 10 minutes before removing from the muffin pan.

Recipe Notes

For another variation on this recipe, try blueberries in place of the strawberries!

Sausage & Cheese Muffins

This year we decided to have a last minute get together for the Super Bowl.  Usually I spend a good amount of time planning our get togethers or parties.  In this case, I had about 48 hours. I immediately headed to Pinterest to look for some quick and easy recipes that wouldn't have me spending a fortune. 

I chose these sausage & cheese muffins because they would be a great compliment to the rest of the menu I had planned.  We were also having chicken wings, chips and queso, seven layer dip and buffalo chicken dip.  I also knew the boys would eat these up.  

Results: A hit of the party, not only with the men but with the ladies as well.  I loved that they were bite sized and full of flavor.  I had a few left over and enjoyed them for breakfast reheated the next morning.  Enjoy! 

Sausage & Cheese Muffins

Courtesy of Plain Chicken 

Ingredients: 

• 1 lb. hot ground pork sausage
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 3 cups all-purpose baking mix
• 1 (10.75 oz) can condensed fiesta nacho cheese soup
• 2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
• 3/4 cup buttermilk (water or milk will work too)

Directions: 
Cook sausage and onion powder in a large skillet over medium to med-high heat, stirring until it crumbles and no longer pink. Drain and cool. 

Preheat oven to 375. Combine sausage, baking mix, and shredded cheese in a large bowl. Make a well in the center of the mixture. Stir together the soup and buttermilk; add to sausage mixture, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened. Spoon until lightly greased mini muffin tins, filling to tops of cups. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until lightly browned. 

Strawberry Chocolate Chip Muffins

Strawberry Chocolate Chip Muffins 

Recipe Courtesy Sweet Peas Kitchen 

The recipe you'll find below is for bread, but I decided to make muffins.  I wanted something quick I could grab for breakfast this week.  Thanks to Pinterest, I didn't have to look far for a fabulous recipe! You'll see my changes to the recipe below in red.  

Strawberry Chocolate Chip Bread

Ingredients:

1. 2 cups fresh strawberries, divided
2. 3/4 cup white sugar
3. 1-1/2 cups all purpose flour
4. 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
5. 1/2 teaspoon salt
6. 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
7. 1/2 cup vegetable oil (1/2 cup cinnamon apple sauce)
8. 2 eggs, beaten
9. 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
10. 1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips (dark chocolate chocolate chips)
11. *1/2 cup chopped walnuts 

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease bottom and sides of a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan; dust with flour, tapping out excess.
2. Puree 1 cup of strawberries in a blender. Transfer to a medium bowl. Slice remaining 1 cup of strawberries and place in the medium bowl with the strawberry puree. Sprinkle with 3/4 cup sugar; set aside.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, salt and baking soda. Add oil, eggs and vanilla extract to the strawberry mixture, stir to combine. Add strawberry mixture to flour mixture, blending until dry ingredients are just moistened. Fold in chocolate chips. Scrape batter into prepared loaf pan (greased muffin pan) and smooth surface with a rubber spatula.
4. Bake until top is golden and toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, about 45 to 50 minutes (20 minutes were perfect for the muffins).  Let cool in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes. Turn out onto the wire rack, and cool completely.

Yields: 1 - 9 x 5-inch loaf (12 large muffins) 

 www.sweetpeaskitchen.com

Tasty Pumpkin Muffins

When I saw a pumpkin recipe with over 4,000 reviews, I couldn't pass it up.  I have a pumpkin obsession- probably not the healthiest obsession. But cheaper than shoes right? 

When this time of year comes around, pumpkin takes over my life.   I'm at Dunkin Donuts everyday for their pumpkin coffee-no lie.  My house smells like Bath & Body works, with 7 pumpkin scented plug ins and pumpkin candles burning non stop.  What can I say....it's the little things that make you happy! Anyhow, I made this recipe right away.  I made a few big changes to the mix, which I noted below.  Then, I decided to make muffins instead of bread.  I'm more of a grab and go kind of girl.  I was able to make about 40 muffins.  I did one batch of just plain muffins.  I did another with dark chocolate chips.  And the last batch had cranberries and walnuts.  All of them were fabulous.  I couldn't pick a favorite if I tried.  And since I made so darn many, I can have a different kind each day.  I couldn't even part with these muffins, they went straight to the freezer.  I'll be enjoying them every morning for the next month! 

INGREDIENTS:

1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree 4 eggs 1 cup vegetable oil (1 cup applesauce) 2/3 cup water 3 cups white sugar (1 cup brown & 1 cup white) 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda 1 1/2 teaspoons salt 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger 1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour three 7x3 inch loaf pans.
2.	In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, water and sugar until well blended. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger. Stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until just blended. Pour into the prepared pans.
3.	Bake for about 50 minutes in the preheated oven. Loaves are done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. The muffins took 20 minutes to bake.