My sister absolutely loves strawberries, but I've never been that crazy about them. Actually, I really like them in smoothies, or covered in a thick layer of chocolate, or basically in food, but not so much by themselves. They've just always seemed sort of watered-down compared to a lot of other fruits, without as much of a burst of flavor. Although I have to admit, homegrown strawberries do have a lot more flavor than the ones you can buy at the store.
Like I said, I do like strawberries when they're mixed into something, and these muffins are a perfect example of that. I made them based on the same recipe as my cinnamon apple muffins, but instead of cinnamon and apples, the stars are strawberries and chocolate. As I'm sure I've mentioned before, I have to have at least something with chocolate available in the mornings, so these muffins fulfilled that role. They're perfect though, because they aren't too chocolate-y, and they have some fruit in them too so I feel like I have some excuse to be eating them for breakfast. Not that I particularly feel like I need an excuse.
Like the cinnamon apple muffins, these muffins are nice and big. The strawberries give them extra moistness, and the chocolate is a perfect balance to the strawberries. They're a hit with kids and adults, just use semisweet or bittersweet chocolate depending on your preference.
Chocolate Strawberry Muffins
adapted from The Best Recipe
(makes 12 large muffins)
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
10 tablespoons butter, softened (1 stick plus 2 tablespoons)
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ½ cups plain yogurt (I used non-fat Greek)
1 cups strawberries, chopped (I used frozen, not thawed, but you could use fresh as well)
1 cup dark chocolate chips (or semisweet, if preferred)
Oven Temperature: 375 F
1. In a large bowl, lightly whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the butter and sugar for 2-3 minutes on high, until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating for another 1 ½ minutes or so total. Add vanilla and beat to combine.
3. Add about ⅓ of the yogurt, followed by ⅓ of the flour mixture, stirring at low speed between each addition. Repeat this step two more times to incorporate all of the yogurt and dry ingredients. Finally, stir in the chopped strawberries and chocolate chips by hand.
4. Spoon the muffin batter into 12 greased muffin cups. Each cup should be filled completely so you end up with big muffins.
5. Bake the muffins in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes, making sure that a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean when done. Allow to cool in the muffin tin for at least 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Linked To:
Muffin Mondays
Sweet Tooth Friday
Weekend Show-Off Party
Something Swanky Sweet Treats
Patricia Zajdel
So, I've been wanting to make these for awhile. I was happily going about making half the recipe when I realized - no yogurt in the house, plain or flavored. Eep! I remembered I could use bananas in lieu of yogurt for smoothies and mashed up a small banana. The batter was a really thick so I added about 1/4 cup of milk to make it workable. Not sure how finished muffins are, but the batter was delicious! Great recipe :). Maybe next time I'll have the yogurt!
alexandra
Oh no! Well, I hope the muffins came out well nonetheless, and do try it with yogurt sometime! :)