Monday, July 29, 2013

Strawberry Muffins with Pecan Streusel #MuffinMonday


I am back on the ground in Dubai but I can’t complain.  Sure it’s hot but we have air-conditioned houses and air-conditioned cars and air-conditioned shops, which is more than I can say for the fair city of Paris.

This week’s Muffin Monday ingredient really isn’t any ingredient at all, but a combination of them:  Streusel.  I looked it up.  According to the Oxford Dictionary, streusel is a crumbly topping or filling made from fat, flour, sugar, and often cinnamon.  The Merriam-Webster Dictionary says further that it often contains nuts or other spices.  Streusel comes from the German word streuen, which means to sprinkle or strew, both words we also use in English.  And while I admit to sprinkling streusel, I do try to confine it to the top of muffins or coffeecake.  I suggest you do the same.

Ingredients
For the muffin
2 cups or 250g flour
3/4 cup or 170g sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup or 180ml milk
1/2 cup or 120ml canola or other light oil
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup (measured after chopping) or 150g (weight after hulling) strawberries

For the streusel
1/2 cup or 60g pecans
1/4 cup or 50g dark brown sugar
1/4 cup or 30g flour
1/4 cup or 55g cold butter

Method
Preheat oven to 350°F or 180°C and generously grease cups of 12-cup muffin tin or line with muffin cup liners.

Hull and chop your strawberries and chop the pecans.  Set the strawberries aside.




Make your streusel by mixing together your brown sugar, chopped pecans and flour.


Cut in your butter with a pastry blender.


This takes a bit of doing and you will probably have to scrape the butter off the pastry blender and back into the bowl a few times before it starts to come together with the dry ingredients.

Persevere.  You might find it helpful to use a fork at the end.


Set the streusel aside (in the refrigerator if you are in a warm place) and continue making the batter.

In a large mixing bowl, combine your flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.


In another smaller mixing bowl, whisk together the milk, oil, vanilla and egg.


Add all the milk mixture to flour mixture.


Gently fold just until dry ingredients are moistened and then fold in your chopped strawberries.



Divide your batter relatively evenly between the 12 muffin cups.


Sprinkle the streusel on the top of the batter and pat it down a little bit so it doesn’t fall off as the muffins bake and rise.



Bake 20-25 minutes in your preheated oven or until muffins are golden and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.


Remove from oven and let cool 10-15 minutes before removing muffins from tin and placing on a wire rack to finish cooling.


Eat any pieces of streusel that fall off as you are removing the muffins.  The family will never know or miss them.


Enjoy!






14 comments :

  1. I love pecans! They are my favorite nut and when you put them with strawberries I'm in heaven! Another plus is that beautiful picture of yours - you really knocked it out of the park with that one!

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  2. G'day! love the combination of strawberries and pecans, true!
    Love your step by step photos and the staging of your photos too!
    Cheers! Joanne
    http://www.facebook.com/whatsonthelist

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  3. In my opinion, streusel is one of the best parts of a good muffin! I love the strawberry infusion here. Such nice fruity flavor in each bite!

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  4. They are my favorite nut too, Kelli. I would put pecans in everything if I could. Thank you!

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  5. Thank you, Joanne. Your kind words make me smile.

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  6. I agree, Joanne. Streusel makes everything better!

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  7. I'm kind of jealous of all your traveling! I'd love to see Dubai. And I love streusel! Especially with pecans!

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  8. Gee, I'd like to have this for my breakfast.... helps to drive away the Monday blues! Have never visited Dubai before.... ya, bet it's as hot as Malaysia :(

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  9. These sound delightful and look so summery. I've tried strudel as a layer in the middle of a sponge which worked brilliantly, but I've still not tried it on top of a cake and it's been on my list of thing to try for ages.

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  10. On top or in the middle, streusel is always a good thing! Or both would also be good. I love the little bits of summery strawberries that peek out too.

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  11. It's hotter, Cheah, at least in the summer time.

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  12. Pecans are my favorite nuts, Jen. I could put them in everything! Come on over and I'll show you Dubai!

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  13. I adore streusel... I actually have some pecan streusel left over in the fridge from a cake I made the other day. I think these muffins are a perfect use for it! Thanks for sharing beautiful. Wonderful nourishing, homely recipes xx

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  14. It is my pleasure, Laura! I hope you used your pecan streusel to make these or something else lovely.

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