Oreo Chocolate Cheesecake Cake #cakes

Don’t you just love this time of the year when everything is pink and red?!  It’s just so pretty!   Makes me happy… especially these pink muffins.

Glazed Strawberry Muffins

Before making these I actually never had strawberries in muffins but it’s actually quite tasty.  As in I ate 3 the first day!  One without glaze right when it came out of the oven (oh my gosh it just smelled so irresistibly good).  Then I had to eat one after glazing/during the photo shoot.  And finally, I had to split one open for a photo and I tried to pawn it off on Carly but she wouldn’t take it and you know how parents are with eating their kids leftovers.

Strawberries, no matter what the temperature outdoors, give me hope for warmer days ahead. As soon as they come into season, we seem to always have a container in the fridge. Usually, just popping them in our mouths is our favorite way to eat them, but I do love to bake with them too. I love them in these muffins. They just taste like spring to me.

To keep these muffins light and fluffy I use Silk® Unsweetened Vanilla Almondmilk in place of dairy milk. I find that the almond milk gives me that tender texture that I’m looking for even though I use some whole wheat flour that can add some heaviness.

The other reason I love baking with almond milk is that it adds no extra grams of sugar to my recipe. One cup of dairy milk contains twelve grams of sugar compared to zero grams in almond milk. That is especially important when baking with strawberries. They do require sugar to enhance their flavor. Using almond milk lets me add the sugar needed to make the muffins taste wonderful without adding extra grams that do not affect the flavor. With the glaze, these muffins are by no means low in sugar, but the muffin itself is compared to traditional recipes. Feel free to make them without the glaze…they are still wonderful, but I personally just can’t resist that sweet topping!

The batter is pretty easy to make.  It’s slightly thick but still thin enough to fold in the berries.  I wanted to make sure some berries showed through on top so I poked a few more pieces into the top after scooping the batter in.  Oh and a little trick for cupcakes and muffins- use an ice cream scoop to drop the batter in.  With this recipe you’ll want to do a slightly overflowing scoop into each muffin cup.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 eggs
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup non-fat plain Greek yogurt can substitute light sour cream
• 1 heaping cup fresh chopped strawberries (rinsed and dried)

FOR THE GLAZE:

• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 4 to 5 teaspoons heavy cream or half-and-half or more to reach desired consistency
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Coat a 12 cup muffin pan with non-stick cooking spray.
2. In large bowl beat eggs with an electric hand mixer. Add 1 cup white sugar and beat for a minute or two until completely combined. Pour in the oil, with beaters running, and then add vanilla. In a separate bowl, stir together flour, salt and baking soda.
3. Using a wooden spoon, mix flour mixture into wet mixture, a little at a time, alternating with the Greek yogurt.
4. Add the strawberries and mix with the wooden spoon just until combined. Divide the batter between the prepared muffin cups.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 18 to 22 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from oven and allow muffins to cool for about 10 or 15 minutes and then carefully remove from tin to cool completely.
6. Combine ingredients for glaze in a small mixing bowl. Drizzle over completely cooled muffins.
7. Store leftovers in an airtight container.