Super Duper Awesome Strawberry Banana Muffins

I have been getting so many awesome, top-quality, non-squashy strawberries this summer that I decided I needed to bake with some of them. I made Andrea Dekker's strawberry pie several times and it was a BIG hit, but I wanted something baked and breakfasty. So I scrutinized my favorite banana chocolate chip recipe to see how I could switch it up for a strawberry-friendly version. Here's what I came up with:


Strawberry Banana Muffins

Yield: 12 muffins

Ingredients

• 1 & 2/3  c. all-purpose flour
• 1 c. sugar
• ½ tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• ½ tsp. baking powder
• ½  tsp. ground cardamom
• 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp. allspice
• 2 eggs, separated
• ½ cup smashed bananas
• ½ c. crushed pureed strawberries
• ½ c. butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350°.

Spray a standard muffin pan with cooking spray or line with paper baking liners. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and spices. Set aside.

In a small bowl, whip the egg whites to a fluffy consistency. Set aside. In another medium bowl, combine the egg yolks, fruit, and melted butter. Add the fruit mixture all at once to the flour mixture. 

Stir by hand until just moistened (batter may be a bit lumpy and dry-ish). Mix in the fluffy egg whites by hand. 

Spoon the batter into the 12 prepared muffin cups. Bake for about 20-24 minutes, or just until a wooden toothpick inserted into centers of the muffins comes out dry. Do not overbake. Remove from muffin cups to cool.

I love these for August-September, because the fruit makes them feel like a summer treat while the spices give them a slightly autumn-y flavor.

This recipe is for twelve muffins. Unlike cupcakes, I fill my liners up to the top for muffins. I like a big, fluffy muffin.

*snicker*

But if you prefer a smaller muffin (again, *snort*), you could probably get 18 muffins out of this. Just adjust your bake time accordingly. Maybe check them at 18 minutes. Just do the good old toothpick test. Goop on your toothpick means give it a few more minutes (I like two minute increments); solid, clinging crumbs or a clean toothpick means you're good.

Fill 'em up...

...for a full-size muffin.

Mmm...strawberry...

There's a lot you can do with this recipe, too. Just off the top of my head, you can:

• top it off with a simple streusel;
• use any combination of berries or most fruits. Finely diced apples, mango, whatever. Just use about a cup of fruit;
• give it a healthier spin by swapping out the white ingredients. My friend Caroline from Ingredi(r)ants suggests increasing the amount of banana, cutting the sugar by half, and substituting whole wheat or spelt flour for the white flour;
• or play with the spices. I have made these without cardamom. I have made these with mace. Use whatever you like to change the "seasonal"-ness.

So yum. My favorite muffin recipe here for your taking. And now I want to go make more.