Strawberry Yogurt Muffins #MuffinMonday

Just the right sweetness and oh, so tender, these strawberry yogurt muffins are a great breakfast or snack. Decorate them with sliced strawberries for an extra pretty touch, especially if you bake them on National Strawberry Day.

Happy National Strawberry Day and Muffin Monday to you all! In honor of convergence of these two special days, I've baked you some delicious golden muffins. And while these are perfect with strawberry yogurt, I should point out that you can easily substitute your favorite yogurt flavor.

Make sure you scroll down to see what my fellow Muffin Monday bakers are sharing! After you make these strawberry yogurt muffins, of course.

Ingredients - 12 muffins
2 cups or 250g all purpose flour
1/2 cup or 100g sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup or 60ml milk
3/4 cup or 185g strawberry yogurt
1/2 cup or 113g butter, melted and cooled
1 large egg

Optional, for decoration: 3 red strawberries, cut into four slices each

Method
Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare your 12-cup muffin pan by greasing it or lining it paper muffin cups.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, the sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

In another bowl, whisk together the milk, yogurt, butter and egg.

Pour your wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and fold them together until just mixed.

Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups and top each with strawberry slice, cut side up, if using.

Bake in the preheated oven about 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Cool on a rack for a few minutes and then remove the muffins to cool completely.

Enjoy!

Check out all the other delicious muffins my Muffin Monday bakers are sharing today:

• Apricot Pistachio Matcha Muffins by Farm Fresh Feasts
• Blueberry Buttermilk Muffins by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Cherry Chocolate Muffins by Sew You Think You Can Cook
• Garlic Onion Muffins by Passion Kneaded
• Muffins Florentine by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Strawberry Yogurt Muffins by Food Lust People Love

#MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins. You can see all our of lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board.

Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday, can be found on our home page.

Pin it! 

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Strawberry Champagne Cocktail #BloggerCLUE

This twist on the classic peach Bellini uses strawberry simple syrup and strawberry puree to create a deliciously fresh Champagne cocktail, perfect for any celebration.

This month for Blogger C.L.U.E., my assigned blog is one that I am very familiar with and love. It is written by one of the most popular ladies on the interwebs because she is sweet, friendly, kind to a fault and makes the most sensational recipes. Despite all the deliciousness that comes out of her kitchen, she stays remarkably slim. Yep, my blog this month is That Skinny Chick Can Bake, written by my sweetheart of a friend, Liz.

Our theme is sparkles, so despite all the great recipes with shiny things, like her beautiful vanilla cupcakes sprinkled with silver balls or the glistening sheen of barbecue sauce on her Asian Baby Back Ribs, I had to go with the Strawberry Bellini Cocktail. Any excuse to open a bottle of bubbly, right?

Liz had been sent some simple syrups to use in cocktails when she made this originally and they looked great, but unfortunately I didn’t have any, so I made my own strawberry simple syrup from this recipe online, halving the ingredients. It was super easy and still made plenty! Or head on over to Liz’s post and check out the syrup she used. Also, Liz says this makes only two drinks but we had plenty enough strawberry puree for four or five drinks. That is to say, we drank the whole bottle of Champagne. Hey, we didn’t want it to get flat and go to waste, right?

Ingredients
7 oz or 200g ripe strawberries, stems removed (plus a few for garnish)
2 tablespoons strawberry simple syrup
Champagne

Method
Puree the strawberries in a blender with the simple syrup. Strain mixture. (I forgot this step so we were left with tiny little strawberries seeds at the bottom of our glasses. Not a big deal though.)

Put a couple tablespoons of puree in each glass.

Just look at that gorgeous red color!

Pour in some Champagne. It will bubble up so just wait till the bubbles subside and pour in a little more.

Stir to combine.

And then top up with more Champagne. Make sure to garnish each glass with a strawberry.

This Month’s Blogger CLUE Participants are

• Baked Ziti from Azmina at Lawyer Loves Lunch
• Blood Orange Margaritas from Liz at That Skinny Chick Can Bake
• Brown Butter Brown Sugar Banana Bread from Christiane at Taking on Magazines
• Cardamon White Chocolate Panna Cotta from Debra at Eliot's Eats
• Cherry Pie and Cream Pavlova (Okie Pavlova) from Ramona at Curry and Comfort
• Cornish Game Hens with Whiskey Herb Citrus Glaze from Lea Ann at Cooking on the Ranch
• Delicious Savory Clafoutis from Christiane at Taking on Magazines
• Fingerling Potato Salad with Champagne Vinaigrette from Wendy at A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Lemon Ginger Crinkle Cookies from Jean at Lemons and Anchovies
• Maple Caramel Golden Sugar Blondies from Kelli at Kelli's Kitchen
• Milky Way Martini from Aly at Cooking in Stilettos
• Peach Buckle from Anna at Anna Dishes
• Pomegranate Champagne from Christy at Confessions of a Culinary Diva
• Ramona's Mini Cinnamon Rolls from Kate at Kate's Kitchen
• Rosemary Peach Sparkling Cocktail from Alice at A Mama, Baby and Shar-pei in the Kitchen
• Salted Toffee Chocolate Chunk Cookies from Liz at That Skinny Chick Can Bake
• Soft Pretzel Sticks with Spicy Mustard from Heather at girlichef
• Sparkling Mojitos from Heather at girlichef
• Sparkly Shortbread Cookies from Lisa at Authentic Suburban Gourmet
• Strawberry Champagne Cocktail from Stacy at Food Lust People Love

Find That Skinny Chick Can Bake online:

     

Irish Blackberry Cobbler Cocktail #BloggerCLUE

Muddled blackberries release their precious juice to mix with Irish whisky, sherry and simple syrup over crushed ice for a refreshing cocktail that is perfect for Happy Hour. 

This month’s BloggerCLUE is berries and the blog I am supposed to be poking around in, looking for berry recipes is none other than girlichef, written by my friend, Heather, fellow lover of garlic and margaritas. You might remember our celebrations of National Garlic Day 2014 and 2015 and this year’s National Margarita Day. Good times!

Anyhoo, I searched through Heather’s blog and found myriad recipes with berries like her tasty Chicken Strawberry Tarragon Salad or her creamy Mixed Berry Gelato and her sweet Rosewater Raspberry Meringues, just to mention three. There were just so many too choose from!

But the title that really caught my eye was the Irish Cobbler. The name conjured up a big pan of juicy berries topped with a batter or biscuit crust, so you can imagine my surprise when I clicked on the link and discovered it was a cocktail! Well, we love a good cocktail and it’s great to get out of the rut of always mixing and drinking the same old thing so I abandoned all thoughts of ice cream and salad and baked desserts for Happy Hour.

Make sure you scroll down past the Irish Cobbler to see what other special berry recipes my fellow BloggerCLUE members have found on their assigned blogs this month!

Ingredients for two cocktails
16 ripe blackberries
3 oz or 90ml Irish whiskey
3 oz or 90ml simple syrup (I used simple syrup made from demerara sugar.)
1 oz or 30ml cream sherry (Heather says: optional. I put it in. Hey, go big or go home.)
Ground cinnamon (Heather used nutmeg. You can choose.)
Crushed ice for two glasses
2-3 ice cubes

Method
Divide the blackberries between two short cocktail glasses and muddle until you have a lovely mush of blackberries and juice at the bottom. Heather said to leave some chunks, which I duly did but that did make the drink harder to sup through a straw.

Add crushed ice to fill both glasses, right on top of the muddled berries.

In a cocktail shaker, over a couple of ice cubes, vigorously shake the whiskey, simple syrup, cream sherry (if using), and a good pinch of cinnamon or nutmeg.

Pour over the crushed ice in your glasses.

Stir well to mix the muddled berries throughout the cocktails and finish with another pinch of cinnamon or nutmeg, if desired.

Enjoy!

Have you been hunting for berrilious recipes too? You are in the right place then! Here's a list of the other BloggerCLUE participants this month.

• Blackberry Yogurt Muffins by Azmina from Lawyer Loves Lunch
• Blueberry Bars by Lora from Cake Duchess
• Blueberry Buttermilk Breakfast Cake by Heather from girlichef
• Blueberry Lemon Bars by Christiane from Taking on Magazines
• Blueberry Lemon Poppyseed Muffins by Alice from A Mama, Baby and Shar-pei in the Kitchen
• Blueberry Sour Cream Cake by Jean from Lemons and Anchovies
• Fresh Strawberry Cupcakes and Frosting by Kelli from Kelli's Kitchen
• Irish Blackberry Cobbler Cocktail by Stacy from Food Lust People Love
• Italian Jam Cookies by Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Lemon Cheesecake Parfaits with Raspberry Sauce by Rebekah from Making Miracles
• Raspberry Muffins by Lauren from Sew You Think You Can Cook
• Raspberry Oat Bars by Lisa from Authentic Suburban Gourmet
• Strawberry and Coconut Tartlets by Anna from annaDishes
• Strawberry Champagne Cocktail by Kim from Liv Life
• Strawberry Fool by Kathy from A Spoonful of Thyme
• Strawberry Lemon Marmalade by Debra from Eliot's Eats
• Strawberry Margaritas by Christy from Confessions of a Culinary Diva
• Strawberry Mousse by Liz from That Skinny Chick Can Bake
• Tapioca Cream Strawberry Parfait by Lea Ann from Cooking on the Ranch
• Vanilla Roasted Peaches with Mascarpone and Raspberries by Kathleen from Bakeaway with Me

Cheers!

Strawberry Jam Muffins #MuffinMonday

Sticky jam turns these strawberry jam muffins into the most delightful treat you’ll want to serve upside down, since the jam bakes on the bottom! 

This upside down muffin recipe happened purely by accident but OMG, it was a happy accident, perhaps not quite as important as the discovery of penicillin, post-it notes or Teflon, but definitely more delicious. 

I have to admit that at first I was horrified thinking that the muffin was raw on the bottom. Nope, it was just stuck to the pan a little because of the jam falling to the bottom of the muffin batter. A small jiggle all around with a spatula soon loosened it and that’s when I discovered how lovely they were. 

A good friend came by just after I’d baked them so I sent him on his way with one. He came back today to ask exactly what it was that I had given him because it was SO GOOD. "An upside down muffin!" I exclaimed. Personally, I ate two back-to-back. No kidding. 

Strawberry Jam Muffins (Small Batch)

This recipe makes six regular sized muffins but it is easily doubled to make 12. Make sure to grease your muffin pan well with some canola oil. I pour a little in one or two of the muffin cups then use a pastry brush to make sure the bottom and sides are coated.

Ingredients for six muffins

1 cup or 125g flour

2/3 cup or 132g golden caster sugar (sub regular sugar if you can't find the golden)

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

1/2 cup or 120ml minus 1 tablespoon milk (*instructions below)

1 tablespoon lemon juice

3 tablespoons or 45ml canola or other light oil, plus extra for oiling the pan

1 large egg

1/4 cup or 70g strawberry jam, plus a little extra for topping, if desired

*Put your lemon juice in a measuring vessel and then add milk up to the 1/2 cup or 120ml mark. Set aside.

Method

Preheat oven to 350°F or 180°C. Generously grease cups and top of a 6-cup muffin pan or just 6 cups of a bigger muffin pan.

Whisk your flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt together in a large bowl.

In another bowl, whisk together your soured milk, oil and egg.

All at once, add the wet ingredients to the dry. 

Gently fold just until dry ingredients are moistened. There may be little bits of flour showing and that's just fine. Spoon the strawberry jam on to the batter.

Gently swirl it in. You want ribbons of jam, not a homogenous batter. Unless you personally want a homogeneous batter. I am not here to tell you how to live your life.

Divide your batter relatively evenly between the 6 greased muffin cups. Top with a little more jam on each one.

Bake the muffins for 22-27 minutes in your preheated oven, or until they are golden on top and a toothpick comes out clean.

Remove the pan from the oven and let the muffins cool for a few minutes on a wire rack. 

Run a spatula around the sides and loosen the bottom to remove the muffins from the pan and put them onto the wire rack. I put mine top down so they flattened a bit. Still light and fluffy inside. And, oh, that glorious sticky bottom. 

Enjoy!

It's the last Monday of the month so that means it's time to celebrate Muffin Monday once again. Check out the lovely recipe links below:

• Cereal Milk Muffins from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Cheeseburger Mini Muffins from Jolene's Recipe Journal
• Millet and Oat Pecan Muffins (GF) from A Messy Kitchen
• Savory Cottage Cheese Breakfast Muffins from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Strawberry Jam Muffins from Food Lust People Love
• Sugar Free Sourdough Banana Apple Muffins from Zesty South Indian Kitchen

#MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins. You can see all of our lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday can be found on our home page.

Pin these Strawberry Jam Muffins!

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Feta and Strawberry Tabouli Salad

Feta and strawberry tabouli salad is a great twist on a Middle Eastern favorite. Juicy ripe strawberries brighten the salad, adding color and a welcome sweetness. This is one salad that’s just as good as leftovers!

As much as I love a traditional tabouli salad (which is A LOT!) it’s also fun to mix things up and put a new spin on an old favorite. Adding fresh strawberries was inspired by the fancy salads we enjoy with not only greens but also fruit, nuts and cheese. In this case, the nutty-flavored bulgur wheat is standing in for actual nuts. 

On a completely different subject, let’s talk about the first ingredient, a thing I like to call purple onion. In most recipes it is referred to as red onion or Spanish onion but since my first encounter with same as a child, I’ve called it purple onion. Because it is purple! This is my tiny hill and I am prepared to defend it. 

A Google search quickly revealed that in some European countries it is indeed called purple onion and now I want to know where. Annoyingly, Wikipedia didn’t say. Even BBC Food had the nerve to describe the onion thusly, “Red onions are an attractive, milder alternative to the yellow onion with their shiny purple skin.” Purple. That’s right. 

Have I convinced anyone? Join me on the purple side. It’s more accurate over here. Plus I have tasty salad.

Feta and Strawberry Tabouli Salad

For aesthetic reasons, I chose to use yellow cherry tomatoes for this festive salad. If you only have red ones, no worries. The flavor is what really matters. 

Ingredients

For the dressing:

1/2 medium purple onion, sliced very thinly (about 2 1/2 oz or 70g)

2 tablespoons or 30ml fresh lime juice

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup or 60ml extra virgin olive oil

For the salad:

1 cup or 210g bulgur wheat (3 1/4 cups or 615g when soaked and drained)

1 bunch green onions, just the green part, chopped (about 11/4 oz or 35g)

1 very large bunch (about 5 1/3 oz or 150g) cilantro

8 oz or 227g yellow cherry tomatoes, halved

14 oz or 400g strawberries, hulled and quartered

7 oz or 200g feta, crumbled (I prefer the sheep’s milk type.)

 

Method

In metal or heatproof bowl, cover your bulgur wheat with 1 3/4 cups or 414ml of boiling water and cover the bowl with an upside down plate or some cling film. Set aside. 

Put your thinly sliced onions in a large bowl and pour the lime juice over them. Sprinkle with the salt. Add a few good grinds of fresh black pepper. 

Let the onions marinate in the lime juice for a few minutes. This helps reduced their pungency and sharpness. Now mix in the olive oil. 

Chop your green onions finely and set aside. 

Cut the hard stalks off of the cilantro and discard.  (The tender, narrow stalks near the leaves are fine to leave in.) Wash the cilantro thoroughly several times and dry in a salad spinner or a dry dishcloth.  Chop it roughly. 

Once the bulgur wheat has absorbed all of the water it can, drain it in a strainer and push down on the top to get rid of any excess water. 

Fluff it with fork and leave it to cool. 

Now we can assemble the strawberry tabouli. Add the halved tomatoes to the dressing first. 

Tip in the cooled bulgur wheat, the green onions and cilantro and mix well to coat the wheat with the dressing.

Finally, add the strawberries and feta and toss gently to combine. This tabouli gets better and better as it sits so you can make it ahead without any problems.  

Enjoy!

It’s Sunday FunDay and my friends and I are sharing side dishes for your Easter table. Anything that isn’t a main course qualified so we’ve got you covered from appetizer to dessert! Many thanks to our host, Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm. 

• Bunny Cupcakes from Amy’s Cooking Adventures 
• Feta and Strawberry Tabouli Salad from Food Lust People Love 
• Fresh Pea Hummus from Culinary Cam
• Pineapple Bread Pudding from A Day in the Life on the Farm 
• Pork Sorpatel - East Indian from Sneha’s Recipe 
• Potato Salad with Condensed Milk from Palatable Pastime 
• Stir-Fried Balsamic and Ginger Glazed Carrots from Karen’s Kitchen Stories 
• Veggie Niçoise Salad from Mayuri’s Jikoni 
• Whole Wheat Rosemary Garlic Bread Recipe from The Mad Scientist’s Kitchen

 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

Pin this Feta and Strawberry Tabouli Salad!

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Strawberry Almond Muffins with Strawberry Glaze #MuffinMonday

This Muffin Monday post comes to you a day late quite deliberately.  Sometimes, when the inexplicable happens, it is all we can do to bow our heads in silent prayer.  And treasure the loved ones around us.  Our daughters arrived on Sunday night safely, although a little later than expected after an unscheduled detour to Abu Dhabi, because the airplane was low on fuel.  As I write this on Monday morning, they are still sleeping in their beds and, so, all is right with my world.  And, for that, I am forever grateful.

This week’s original strawberry muffin recipe came from Jane’s Sweets and Baking Journal.  I changed it up by adding in ground almonds, yogurt, a natural strawberry glaze and way more strawberries.  Oh, and some sliced almonds on top.  Because despite the sadness in this world, this is still the Holiday Series.  And while muffins can’t make everything better – would that they could – these strawberry babies do help.  Baked goods are comfort food, don’t you agree?

Ingredients
2 cups or 250g flour
1/2 cup or 55g almond meal or finely ground almonds
1 cup or 225g sugar, divided into 3/4 cup or 170g for the muffin batter and 1/4 cup or 55g for macerating strawberries
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup or 120ml whole milk
1/2 cup or 125g plain yogurt
1/2 cup or 115g unsalted butter, melted then cooled
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
10 oz or 300g ripe strawberries

For the topping: 1/2 cup or about 40g very thinly sliced almonds

For the glaze:
1/2 teaspoon corn starch
1/2 cup strawberry juice drained from the sweetened strawberries

Method
Preheat oven to 350°F or 180°C degrees.

Put paper liners in the cups of your muffin pan, or grease your pan with non-stick cooking spray or butter.

Hull your strawberries.  The easiest way to do this, with the least amount of strawberry wasted, is to slide your knife under the stem.  Use your thumb to hold the stem against the knife and put the whole thing out.

Cut up your berries and put them in a small bowl.  Sprinkle with the 1/4 cup or 55g sugar and allow them to sit while you get on with the batter.

In a large mixing bowl, thoroughly combine the flour, almond meal, sugar, baking powder, and salt.

Whisk together your melted butter, milk, yogurt, vanilla extract and eggs in a smaller bowl.

Pour the wet egg mixture into the dry ingredients, blending just until combined.

Over a small bowl or measuring cup, pour your strawberries into a sieve and allow all of the juice to collect.

Add about three-quarters of the strawberries to the batter and gently fold them in.  This is not a scientific measurement.  Let's not make things harder than they have to be!

Divide the batter between the prepared muffin cups.

Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with the sliced almonds.

Divide the leftover strawberries between the muffin cups.  Press down lightly to make sure the strawberries and the almonds are stuck in the batter.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until they are lightly browned or a toothpick stuck in the middle comes out clean.  Mine actually took closer to 30 minutes but I suspect my oven is having issues.

Allow to cool for a few minutes and then remove the muffins from the tin and allow to cool completely on a rack.

When the muffins are almost complete cooled, whisk the cornstarch into 1/2 cup of your strawberry syrup until it is completely dissolved.

Pour the mixture into a small saucepan and heat until it comes to a boil.  Stir steadily as it heats.

Cook, gently boiling until the syrup turns clear (as opposed to cloudy) and thickens.

Set aside until cool.

Drizzle the glaze over the muffins and serve.

Enjoy!