Fresh Strawberry Muffins

These muffins are pretty much like cake. So they work as a treat for breakfast or as a dessert. I ate them with my Sour Strawberry Icecream and they were delish. There are two tricks. One is folding the batter so the muffins get a nice rise and look pretty. The second is placing the strawberries individually in the muffin pan. A little more time but the results are no pink batter and a really good looking muffin...

Almond or Pecan Topping

2 tablespoons granulated sugar
3 tablespoons dark brown sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
4 tablespoons melted butter
1/4 cup slivered almonds or pecans (optional)

1-2 cups sliced fresh strawberries (quartered is best)
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon table salt
2 eggs
4 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
1/4 cup vegetable or canola oil
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/4 cup 1 or 2% milk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Servings: 12 muffins

For the topping: Stir together sugar, brown sugar, salt, and flour in small bowl until combined. Drizzle with warm butter and toss with fork until evenly moistened and you have small sized balls. Add slivered almonds or chopped pecans.

Preheat oven to 425

Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in large bowl. Whisk sugar and eggs together in medium bowl until thick and well combined. About a 30 seconds to a minute. Slowly whisk in butter and oil. Whisk in milk and yogurt and vanilla until combined. Using rubber spatula, fold egg mixture into flour mixture until just moistened. (Batter will be very lumpy with few spots of dry flour; do not overmix.)

Spray a 12 serving muffin pan with non-stick spray. Take 1 tablespoon of batter and drop in each. Place 3 to 4 slices of strawberries in each muffin batter. Top with batter until strawberries are covered. Place one strawberry slice on top along with the 2 tablespoons of topping.

Bake until muffin tops are golden and just firm, 17 to 19 minutes, rotating muffin tin from front to back halfway through baking time. Cool muffins in muffin tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack and cool 5 minutes before serving.