Strawberry Buckle Muffins

One of my favorite summer ingredients is strawberries. They’ve always been my favorite since I was young and part of the reason was due to my childhood visits to a nearby strawberry farm. Everywhere I look these days, strawberries are on sale and it’s hard to pass them up! With a fridge full of these delightful berries, I wanted to try out something different. These Strawberry Buckle Muffins were the perfect choice and oh so good! Plump strawberries are folded into a sweet muffin batter and topped with a crunchy oatmeal and cinnamon sugar topping – yum!

I loved the tender crumb of these muffins and how the berries seemed to burst a bit while baking. It almost gave them a jam like consistency which worked so well with the sweet and simple muffin batter. And with every bite, the topping just seemed to put it over the top. This recipe would probably do well with other berries such as blueberries, raspberries and even blackberries! You could wrap these muffins individually and freeze if you have a small family and if you have little ones, try baking in a mini muffin pan for a bite sized breakfast or snack…

Batter:
1 1/3 cups whole wheat or unbleached flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon yogurt
1/2 teaspoon (or more) lemon zest
1 1/4 cups (about 7 ounces) coarsely chopped fresh strawberries

Topping:
1/3 cup oatmeal (which I used) or flour
1/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons chilled butter, diced
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. and adjust the oven rack to the middle position. Oil 12 standard (1/2 cup capacity) or 6 jumbo (1 cup capacity) muffin cups.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter until creamy. Gradually add 1/2 cup sugar and beat for approximately one minute until well blended. Add the egg and beat for an additional two minutes until light and fluffy. Beat in the yogurt and lemon zest.

Add all of the sifted flour mixture and gently stir in until the batter, which will be quite stiff, is just smooth. Gently fold in all of the chopped strawberries. Evenly divide the batter among the muffin cups, which should be no more than three-quarters full.

Combine all topping ingredients in the bowl of a food processor or chopper and pulse until the ingredients are blended to the consistency of coarse crumbs. Evenly sprinkle the topping mixture over the batter in the muffin cups.

Bake for 25-35 minutes, depending on the size of the muffin cups used, until the topping is lightly browned. Cool on a baking rack until ready to serve. Makes 12 regular or 6 jumbo muffins.