Mystery Lovers' Kitchen: Strawberry Muffins

Thursday, July 1, 2021

Very Berry Muffins @LucyBurdette

LUCY BURDETTE: I was craving blueberry muffins last week and came across a good-looking recipe at Once Upon a Chef. I followed her recipe, with a few tweaks—some strawberries instead of all blue since it’s that season in our garden, a little less salt, and cinnamon in the sugar topping. So delicious! And it turned out that they are red, white and blue, so perfect for the Fourth of July!

I made these twice, once with an electric beater and once in my food processor. The second was definitely easier, but be careful not to over-beat at any stage—it’s easy to do that with a machine. And I think you might be able to tell that in the strawberry batch, I forgot to sift the flour over the berries before mixing them in.

INGREDIENTS

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

1/2 cup milk

2-1/4 cups fresh blueberries, or combination with strawberries

2 tablespoons coarse sugar

½ teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 350.

Let the ingredients come to room temperature, then cream the butter with the sugar. Add the eggs one at a time and beat after each. Mix in the two extracts.

Combine the dry ingredients together in a separate bowl. Add the dry alternately with the milk, beating lightly after each.

Sift a bit of flour over the berries, and then fold them into the batter. Mix the cinnamon with the sugar.

Spray a muffin pan with oil, and then place paper muffin cups inside. Scoop the batter into the prepared pan and sprinkle with cinnamon/sugar mixture.

Bake for 26-30 minutes, until tops are golden brown. (I took mine out after 26.)

And T-bone would like to let you know that THE KEY LIME CRIME will be out as a trade paperback on July 13. You can order it here.

And please take a look at my brand-new gorgeous website, LucyBurdette.com

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Strawberry Shortcake Muffins and a Virtual Drive with Cleo Coyle

Here in the New York and New Jersey area, strawberries are a local crop. How local? Get in my car, and I'll show you (well, virtually, anyway), and during our drive, I'll point out some fun ideas for your summer vacation, or in my case, staycation!

Our trek begins in Manhattan, where we cross the 59th Street Bridge. Yes, the same span on which Simon and Garfunkel were "feelin' groovy," all those years ago. Click on the arrow in the window below to watch them sing the classic tune in Central Park. If you need a pick-me-up, this should do it.

Were you a fan of Simon and Garfunkel?

(Waves hand madly...)

The Famous Central Park Concert

Are you "Feelin' Groovy" yet?...

Well, let's keep driving then!

On the other side of New York's famous 59th Street Bridge

is a forked body of land, also surrounded by water.

This is Long Island...

To learn more about Long Island,
New York click this link:Loving Long-Island.com

On the Manhattan end of Long Island sits Queens, one of New York's five boroughs and the place I (and the Mets) call home. Driving east, toward the rising sun, apartment buildings and row houses gradually give way to middle class homes. We're now leaving New York City and entering what we locals think of as "Long Island" proper.

A fun summer read,
Murder Most Frothy takes
my coffeehouse manager
and amateur sleuth,
Clare Cosi, to New York's
Hamptons, the fabled seaside
playground of the rich and
famous on the "South Fork"
of Long Island. To learn more
about this frothy culinary
murder mystery, click here.

The roads here (almost magically) appear much cleaner and in better shape. Suburban malls sprout up and we pass familiar franchise stores, restaurants, and movie multiplexes. Most of these things will be found along the center of the Island. The picturesque waterside views (a quiet bay on the north end and the tumultuous Atlantic on the south) are peppered by exclusive communities with multimillion dollar homes.

But fret not, Oh ye who do not manage hedge funds nor own multimedia conglomerates, because there are plenty of state parks on Long Island, too. One of my favorites is a 6.5-mile white sand playground for the public called Jones Beach, which makes it possible for even lowly writerly types (like me) to appreciate an ocean view.

If strolling through historic villages floats your boat (as it does mine), then you should be buoyed by the many quaint towns along both shorelines.

National landmarks are worth a look, too, like Teddy Roosevelt's stunning Victorian home, Sagamore Hill (aka his "summer White House"), near the scenic town of Oyster Bay on Long Island's North Shore.

Continue driving east and the Island takes on a much more pastoral complexion. At the end of the island, the land splits into the "North Fork" and the "South Fork," the latter is where you will find the famous Hamptons, a collection of seaside villages where rich and famous folk, especially those who live in New York City, have summer homes.

Although you will find uber-rich people out here with their yacht clubs, stables, and summer houses, you will also find families who've been here for many generations, along with working vineyards and farms. Touring around this area is a beautiful way to spend a day (or two or three)...

Strawberries are one of the big crops of their summer season. In fact, many of the farms feature pick-your-own strawberry patches.

I didn't pick my own today, although picking your own is a fun outing for young and old...

To visit a Strawberry Festival on Long Island

and lick your lips at some of the ways strawberries

can be eaten, enjoy this 2 minute video...

Okay, now you're ready for a snack, right?

Full disclosure: For today's recipe, I got my strawberries the old-fashioned way, at the grocery store, where the sign next to the stacked containers of bright red berries declared: "Buy 1, Get 1 Free!"

Indeed, I did buy one, took home two,

and had me a strawberry party.

Of course, I truly love Farmers' Markets,
and I'm sure most you will agree...
Nothing says summer like a stop
by a local farmer's roadside stand.

To check out New York State's

interactive guide to its many farmers'

markets, click here.

Cleo Coyle has a partner in

crime-writing—her husband.

Learn about their books

by clicking here or here.

Cleo Coyle's
Strawberry
Shortcake Muffins

This is one of my favorite summertime muffins. It has the taste of a strawberry shortcake but with less fat and calories, making it a lovely breakfast or coffee-break snack. If you should want to make it richer, simply replace the low fat milk with whole milk, half-and-half, or heavy cream. However you decide to bake them, I hope you eat them with summertime joy! Love...

~ Cleo

To download a fee PDF of this recipe that you can print, save, or share, click here.

Cleo's Strawberry Shortcake Muffins

Makes 6 standard muffins

Ingredients:

4 - 5 ounces of ripe strawberries (This equals about 4 medium,
or 3 large, or 8 small berries. Or about 2/3 cup when chopped.)
1 tablespoon white granulated sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup white, granulated sugar
2 tablespoons canola (or vegetable or cold-pressed virgin coconut) oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup low fat milk (2% milk gives great results; for a richer tasting
muffin, use whole milk, half-and-half, or cream)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup all-purpose flour

Method:

Step 1 - Prep oven, pan, and berries: Preheat oven to 350º F. Line six muffin cups with paper holders. To prevent muffins from sticking, lightly spray the papers with non-stick spray. Wash your strawberries and gently pat them dry with a paper towel. (It's okay if they're still damp.) Hull them (see how below) and chop them into small, uniform pieces. If you slice them over a small bowl, you'll retain more of the juices. Once chopped, the strawberries should fill 2/3 cup and no more. Sprinkle berries with 1 tablespoon of sugar, toss well, and set aside the bowl.

How to hull a strawberry: Pinch off green stem. Using a small, sharp
knife, cut around the berry's crown (or move the berry in a circular
motion against the blade). You want to remove the fibrous white,
conical-shaped core, leaving as much fruit intact as possible

Step 2 - Make batter with one bowl mixing method: Crack egg into a mixing bowl and gently beat with a whisk or fork. Add 1/4 cup sugar, oil, vanilla, milk, salt, baking powder, and baking soda, and whisk until well blended. Add chopped strawberries from Step 1. Be sure to include any strawberry juices that may have accumulated at the bottom of the strawberry bowl. Stir to blend.

Batter before flour is added.

Step 3 - Add dry ingredients: Measure flour and pour into the wet ingredients. With a spoon or spatula gently mix dry and wet ingredients to form a lumpy batter. Do not over mix at this stage, but be sure to blend the raw flour completely into your batter.

Never over mix muffin batter or you'll develop
the gluten in the flour and your muffins
will be tough instead of tender.

Step 4 - Bake: This batter will make 6 standard muffins so divide it up evenly among your paper-lined cups. I use the two tablespoon method, scooping up the sticky batter with one spoon and scraping it off with the other. Bake in a well preheated 350º F. oven for 25 to 30 minutes. The muffins are not done until the tops have turned golden brown (see my photos)...

Step 5 - Cooling and storing: Allow the muffins to cool for five minutes in the pan. Remove and finish cooling on a wire rack. Once they're completely cool, you can wrap them in plastic and store them in the refrigerator. A little butter, a cuppa joe, and you're set for breakfast, a coffee break, or a late-night snack.