Strawberry Vanilla Muffins {Muffin Monday}

A tender muffin enriched with vanilla yogurt and local strawberries, sweetened with a touch of vanilla sugar on top.

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"Military spouses plant annuals for themselves and perennials for those who come after them."

 Author Unknown

From Intrepid Gardener to Constant Gardener to Humble Gardener

I am learning that, just because I think a location is ideal for a strawberry patch, it doesn't mean Mother Nature agrees with me.

When we moved to Ohio, bought a house(!), planted blueberry bushes and peach trees and raspberry canes and a strawberry patch in our small back yard, the only fruit I'd had experience growing was strawberries. We planted a strawberry patch on the side of the rented townhouse in Virginia. We planted a strawberry patch in the front of the duplex on base in northern Japan. I figured I knew from strawberries. I was wrong.

My strawberry patch, on the North side of the house, isn't happy. I've amended the soil each year with compost, shredded leaves, coffee grounds, and aged manure. I don't think it's poor soil. I think it's location. Interestingly, this year what appear to be raspberry canes--they look identical to the ones across the yard in the Official Raspberry Patch--have appeared amidst the few struggling strawberries.

I am unsure what steps to take this Spring. I could bury the remaining plants under heaps of soil amendments and start over. I could opt to give up on strawberries, like I did with the blueberries when one blueberry bush died. [It takes 2 blueberry bushes to tango, so no fruit.] I could encourage more raspberries to migrate from the back of the back yard up closer to the house. I'm not sure.

What I am sure of is that I will buy local strawberries at the farmer's markets this season. I will buy them because I won't grow enough of my own to put up for the rest of the year, because I want to support local businesses, and because I vastly prefer the taste of a strawberry grown for flavor (not ability to travel) and picked when ripe.

If you've never tried a locally grown strawberry, only those things at the grocery store--seek out some this year. You're in for a real treat. The season is quick though, get them and gorge while you can. No one said you have to eat fresh strawberries 12 months out of the year, and you might as well only bother with ones that taste good. I do the same thing with tomatoes.

For more recipes using strawberries, please see my Strawberry Recipes Collection. It's part of the Visual Recipe Index by Ingredient, a resource for folks like me eating from the farm share, the farmer's market, the garden, the neighbor's garden, and great deals on ugly produce at the grocery store.

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Strawberry Vanilla Muffins (makes 12)

Ingredients

• 1 cup (240 ml) vanilla yogurt
• 1 large egg
• ⅓ cup (80 ml) vegetable oil
• ½ cup white granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 2 cups (8.5 ounces by weight) unbleached all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup chopped strawberries (can be thawed from frozen or mashed if fresh)
• 1+½ Tablespoons vanilla sugar

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray a 12 well muffin pan with oil spray or line with paper liners. Your choice. I was taking these muffins to others so I used papers to make it easy.
2. In a large bowl, combine yogurt, egg, oil, sugar, salt and baking soda until well blended.
3. Dump flour and baking powder on top. Stir a bit until it starts to come together.
4. Add strawberries to the bowl and stir until just combined.
5. Scoop (Amazon affiliate link to my favorite muffin scoop) into prepared pan.
6. Top with a sprinkle of vanilla sugar.
7. Bake 15 minutes, until lightly browned. Remove from oven.
8. Cool in pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a rack and cool completely.
9. Serve warm or at room temperature.

#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.

Here's what we've got baking up this month:

• Apple Carrot Muffins from Sew You Think You Can Cook
• Blueberry Cornmeal Sourdough Muffins from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Cherry Chocolate Chip Muffins from Palatable Pastime
• Cinnamon Molasses Muffins from Passion Kneaded  
• Cranberry White Chocolate Muffins from Making Miracles
• Peanut Butter Cup Stuffed Chocolate Muffins from Food Lust People Love
• Sour Cream and Green Onion Corn Muffins from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Spicy and Sweet Hummus Muffins from Kelli’s Kitchen
• Strawberry Vanilla Yogurt Muffins from Farm Fresh Feasts