Strawberry Lemon Muffins

 

When you buy strawberries at the farmer’s market, you really need to use them up right away. My problem is that I usually have a recipe in mind that I want to make, but I can never remember what quantity of fruit I need for the recipe. So I end up buy half a flat of strawberries rather than a couple of pints, so in the end I have a lot of berries to use up. Yes, I could just eat them but I like to use them in baked things!

I wanted to make muffins as I had time one morning and could take them to be enjoyed right away. I liked the idea of combining lemon and strawberry, just to give the muffins a little more flavor. The original recipe called these “lemonade” muffins, but I’m not sure that I would go that far. The lemon flavor is certainly there, but it isn’t the strongest.

I cut the strawberries up fairly small, and I think that I would cut them even smaller next time. These turned out well, but I noticed that where the strawberries touched the metal muffin pan, they burned a little. Next time I think I would bake them in paper liners, which would help from the sugar in the strawberries from getting too hot. These are very nice muffins, perfect for using up the bountiful strawberries that are on the market each summer.

2 1/2 cups flour

2-1/4 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup sugar

8 ounces sour cream

1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled

1 tablespoon lemon zest

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1-1/2 cups diced fresh strawberries

Additional sugar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray 20 muffin cups with nonstick spray.

In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar; make a well in center of mixture.

In a separate small bowl, stir together the sour cream, melted butter, lemon zest, lemon juice and eggs. Add to flour mixture, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened. Gently fold strawberries into batter.

Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups, filling three-fourths full. Sprinkle with additional sugar.

Bake for 16 to 18 minutes or until golden brown and a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool he muffins in the pan for 10 minutes before removing them to cool completely on a wire rack.

Recipe from Southern Living