Declare your independence from grocery store baked goods! Show your patriotism and your good taste by starting the day with a basket of these delicious muffins. Especially appropriate for Independence Day, Flag Day, Memorial Day and all those national holidays, these are easy enough to whip up even if the government hasn’t seen fit to give you the day off.
This recipe begins with my basic manic muffin mix, which you mix up and store in your cupboard. The mix makes it easy to create a variety of muffins quickly. Don't have any sitting around? You can find the recipe for the mix here.
This recipe begins with my basic manic muffin mix, which you mix up and store in your cupboard. The mix makes it easy to create a variety of muffins quickly. Don't have any sitting around? You can find the recipe for the mix here.
I make blueberry muffins all the time. Strawberry muffins, however, can be a little trickier, because strawberries can have more water content in them. That water can "bleed" out when the muffins are cooking, making soggy pockets that contained cooked bits of strawberry. Not good. My solution: use freeze dried berries instead of fresh ones. Trader Joe's has yummy ones. If you don't use them all in muffins, they are great sprinkled over cereal or eaten by the handful as snacks.
Don't eat the desiccant! I measured out a little more of the strawberries than the blueberries because each slice was bigger. It doesn't take many dried strawberry slices to fill up a third of a cup measure! Make sure you take out the desiccant packet before you dump the berries into your water/oil/egg/extract mixture!
Leaving the berries in the wet ingredients for a few moments gives them a chance to soak up a little moisture without becoming too soggy.
Leaving the berries in the wet ingredients for a few moments gives them a chance to soak up a little moisture without becoming too soggy.
When your muffin tins are ready, dump the muffin mix right on top and mix for a few minutes with a spatula. Try to incorporate all the dry mix, but don't worry too much about a few lumps. Fill your tins 3/4 of the way full, stick them in the oven, and it 20 minutes your mouth will be celebrating!
Strawberry Blueberry Muffins
Preheat oven to 350.
Mix together in a large bowl.
1/3 cup freeze dried strawberries
1/4 cup freeze dried blueberries
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup water
1/2 cup oil
Let these wet ingredients sit while you put muffin papers in 12 standard-sized muffin cups, or grease the cups with spray oil.
Add 2 1/2 cup manic muffin mix to wet ingredients and stir with a spatula to mix. The batter should be slightly lumpy.
Fill muffin cups 3/4 full. Bake for 18-20 minutes until the tops of the muffins are golden.
These muffins freeze well. If your family is small, I recommend putting single muffins in sandwich bags, then putting them all in a ziplock freezer bag so you can pull them out one at a time. Frozen muffins are ready to serve after being reheated in the microwave on high for 30 seconds.
Mix together in a large bowl.
1/3 cup freeze dried strawberries
1/4 cup freeze dried blueberries
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup water
1/2 cup oil
Let these wet ingredients sit while you put muffin papers in 12 standard-sized muffin cups, or grease the cups with spray oil.
Add 2 1/2 cup manic muffin mix to wet ingredients and stir with a spatula to mix. The batter should be slightly lumpy.
Fill muffin cups 3/4 full. Bake for 18-20 minutes until the tops of the muffins are golden.
These muffins freeze well. If your family is small, I recommend putting single muffins in sandwich bags, then putting them all in a ziplock freezer bag so you can pull them out one at a time. Frozen muffins are ready to serve after being reheated in the microwave on high for 30 seconds.
