Strawberry and White Chocolate Chip Muffins

Happy 2014 everyone! And what better way to start the new year with some gorgeous strawberry and white chocolate chip muffins? These are really good at the breakfast table and so easy to make.  Just because it’s winter doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy strawberries in your baked goods. Frozen strawberries are a fine substitute for the fresh ones, unless of course you live in the southern hemisphere like my family and friends in New Zealand and are now enjoying the summer and abundant fresh berries. I was going to be ‘healthy’ and just have the strawberries in the muffins, but then I spied a bag of white chocolate chips in the cupboard, so those went in as well. The best way to prevent the strawberries from bleeding into the batter and giving you grey colored muffins is to put them in last. I like to place them in the batter once it’s already in the muffin pans. Then if you like, you can top each muffin with a freeze-dried strawberry slice (just like the ones you find in cereals like Special K Red Berries).

Makes 6 to 8 Texas sized muffins or 12 regular sized muffins.

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
3 & 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 cup whole milk
1/3 cup butter, melted and cooled
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup frozen strawberries, sliced (do not thaw)
1 cup white chocolate chips
Handful of freeze-dried strawberries (optional)

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees fahrenheit (176 degrees celsius). Line muffin pan with muffin cup liners. In a medium sized bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt and sugar and whisk together.

2. In a large bowl, combine the egg, milk, butter and vanilla extract. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until only just combined. Add the white chocolate chips and stir.

3. Spoon the mixture into the muffin cups and then place a few strawberries into each cup. Top with a freeze-dried strawberry if desired. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Remove from muffin pans and cool on a wire rack.