Muffins! For my first foodie post, I decided on strawberry muffins. They just feel like a perfect spring weekend breakfast and I have never made homemade muffins in spite of how ridiculously easy it turned out to be. I foresee many muffins in my future!
These bad boys are special for a couple reasons. Number one, I opted for butter over vegetable oil and not only butter, but the most magical kind---browned butter. In my kitchen, browned butter is a holy ingredient brightening and emboldening most every recipe it touches. In these muffins, the nutty brown butter flavor shines in every bite. Number two is buttermilk. The subtle tang that the buttermilk offers counters the sweetness of the berries and sugar and adds a unique depth of flavor. I don’t know about you, but I adore a muffin that’s not sickly sweet. If I wanted something sugary for breakfast, I could definitely have a donut or a bowl of Lucky Charms, which are both totally valid options. However, my concept of the ideal muffin is buttery, golden brown and moist inside with lots of fresh fruit and a lovely hit of sweetness. You can’t go wrong with a muffin like that.
Prior to mixing up your ingredients, I browned my butter on the stove top, which requires a little vigilance. First, you melt a stick of a butter over medium heat in a medium skillet. Be sure to watch it carefully and swirl it often as it begins to sizzle. Within a minute or two, it will turn into a foam. This is crunch time. Once it turns to foam, it won’t be long until it browns. Your nose comes in handy at this step and you will begin to notice a nutty scent. That’s the ticket. Keep a close eye, stir often and remove from heat once it reaches a light golden brown color. It will continue browning even off the heat and eventually become a deeper golden brown. Black and burnt is obviously not the goal, so if you think yours is more black than brown, you’ve likely gone too far. After this, I set the butter aside in a small bowl and allowed it to cool completely before starting my mix. Warning: Pouring hot butter into your muffin mix may result in scrambled eggs.
When it comes to muffins, the most important thing to remember is to avoid overmixing. You can totally use your fancy KitchenAid Mixer on its stir setting but I recommend going old fashioned and using elbow grease and a spoon. It takes no time and requires minimal effort. Once all of the ingredients are incorporated with few lumps, it’s hands-off and into the muffin tin.
You could really go for any kind of berry, but I chose strawberries. I diced them up and smashed them only slightly before folding them into the mix. This sort of releases the berry juice and adds an extra burst of strawberry flavor. Over mashing is not recommended. You still want the berries to be mostly intact.
While they’re cooling, brew yourself some coffee then enjoy your creation. Bring the butter dish too. You really can’t have too much.
Buttermilk Brown Butter Muffins with Strawberries
- 2 ½ Cups All-Purpose Flour
- 1 ½ Teaspoons Baking Powder
- ½ Teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 1 Cup Granulated Sugar
- 2 Eggs
- ½ Cup (1 Stick) Unsalted Butter
- 1 Cup Buttermilk
- 1 Cup (More or less-Your choice!) of Strawberries
Add one stick of butter to a medium skillet over medium heat. Allow it to melt, bubble and sizzle (3 to 4 minutes), swirling the pan often, When the butter is a medium golden brown, remove from the heat (it will continue browning in the pan over the next 30 seconds or so!) Pour butter (and any solids in the bottom of the pan) into a bowl and allow it to cool, about 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line muffin tins with paper liners.
Roughly dice strawberries. Set aside.
Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl and mix together.
In a separate bowl, mix together the buttermilk, butter, and eggs. Make a hole in the center of the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Mix with a fork just until blended. Fold the strawberries into the batter and be careful not to over mix.
With a standard ice cream scoop or large spoon, scoop the batter into the muffin cups, filling them around ⅔ of the way full.
Bake the muffins for 18-21 minutes, until golden brown. Allow time for cooling and enjoy!