Strawberry Orange Muffins

Do you still have fresh strawberries where you live? The farms near our house are mostly all picked out for the season, but visiting family in the Pacific Northwest they are still going strong. I am hoping that we will get to pick some other types of berries this summer. Fingers crossed! Picking berries is one of my favorite summertime activities…delicious and so much fun.

My boy loves, loves, loves muffins

My youngest son loves muffins. He would choose to eat muffins every day if I let him…and sometimes I do. His one request in picking strawberries was “could we please make some muffins with them?” How could I refuse that cutie. We came up with this yummy recipe that uses diced strawberries and some orange zest to give a strawberry-orange flavor to these muffins. The orange zest definitely gives orange flavor to these muffins which complement the fresh strawberries so well. If you aren’t a fan of the orange flavor, you can substitute vanilla extract for the orange zest, though you will miss out on the citrus-flavor.

What makes these muffins unique?

Greek yogurt gives these muffins a little added bit of protein that I am not complaining about. It also helps the muffins stay nice and moist. If you don’t have greek yogurt on hand, you can try substituting sour cream which should have a similar effect. 

I also love the beautiful domes that come from baking these muffins at a higher temperature and then quickly lowering the temperature when baking them. This trick works. Every. Single. Time. It has definitely upped my muffin game so I get bakery-style muffins every time I pull them out of my oven. Try it. You won’t be disappointed.

These muffins are so delicious that I will be making them even when my strawberries aren’t freshly picked from the patch. I will probably try them with blueberries, raspberries or blackberries this summer too. Yum!

Strawberry Orange Muffins

Yield: 14-16 muffins

Time: 15 minute mix, 15 minute bake

Ingredients:

• ½ cup plain greek yogurt
• ½ cup milk
• 1 egg
• ⅓ cup oil
• Zest from one orange, about 2 teaspoons
• 2 cups (10 oz) all purpose flour
• ¾ cup granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup diced strawberries

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. 
2. In a liquid measuring cup, mix together greek yogurt, milk, egg and oil. Add the zest from one orange (more or less depending on how much orange flavor you want to come through).
3. In a mixing bowl add the flour, sugar, baking powder, soda and salt. Whisk together.
4. Dice a cup of fresh strawberries and set aside.
5. To the mixing bowl add the liquid ingredients and stir a few times. The batter won’t be completely combined. Add the diced strawberries and stir until the mixture is just combined. It’s okay if there are some little streaks of flour.
6. Line a 12 cup muffin tin, (this is my favorite muffin tin affiliate link). Using a ⅓ or ½ cup measuring cup, fill the tins mostly full of batter.
7. Bake muffins for 5 minutes at 425 degrees. Then reduce the temperature to 350 degrees and bake for 10 more minutes. Check that muffins are done by inserting a toothpick into the center of one and making sure it comes out clean (though there may be some residual strawberry…that’s okay). Let muffins cool and enjoy!

Recipe Notes: This recipe can also be baked as mini muffins. Grease the muffin tin and bake at 425 for 4 minutes and 350 for 5-6 minutes. You can leave the orange zest out of the recipe and replace it with 1-2 teaspoons vanilla, though you will definitely miss out on the orange flavor.

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