Strawberry Vanilla Muffins

The current unsettled weather finds us tripping in and out of our gardens snatching minutes of warming sun and hiding from sudden showers. Next time those grey clouds make an appearance  rustle up a summery  batch these light fluffy muffins for tea. With any luck by the time they are ready the sun will be back.

strawberry muffins 2042

You can download a printable version of the recipe Strawberry Vanilla Muffins here.

Ingredients  (Makes 8 large or 12 medium muffins)

60ml sunflower oil
120ml semi-skimmed milk
1 medium egg
Pinch salt
1 x 5ml spoon baking powder
100g vanilla castor sugar * or plain sugar and a tsp of vanilla essence
220g fine plain flour
150g fresh strawberries, de-hulled and finely chopped
2 strawberries, de-hulled and finely sliced for decoration

Pre-heat the oven to 190ºC / 170ºC fan / gas mark 5.

Whisk the oil, milk and egg together in a small mixing bowl. Place the salt, baking powder, sugar and flour in a large mixing bowl and stir together.Add the chopped strawberries and mix to coat with dry ingredients. Pour in the milk mixture and stir together quickly. The mixture will be slightly lumpy. Layout 8 large or 12 medium size muffin cases in a muffin tray. Using 2 metal spoons divide the muffin mixture equally between them.Place slices of fresh strawberry on top of each muffin.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden and firm to touch.

Delicious eaten while still warm!

These will keep for a couple of days in an airtight cake tin but are best eaten on the day of baking.

Variations: try using fresh raspberries or blueberries in place of strawberries or a mixture of all three.

*Vanilla sugar; if you have a couple of spare vanilla pods sitting in a tube, stick them in a large jar and top up with caster sugar (I use golden brown). This gives an extra flavour layer to your baking. Simply top up the jar with sugar each time you use some.