Strawberry Muffins

It may not seem like it if you are just reading this blog and not watching my life, but I have an enormous amount of difficulty making time to be domestic.  I can't really complain in this economy, but the paying work seems to be crowding out what I consider to be the fun stuff:  gardening, cooking, baking, and generally making my home a pleasant place for me and Mr. FC&G to be.  Not to go all Mad Men on you, but suffice it to say I had a major meltdown Monday about not having the time to meet Mr. FC&G at the door with a martini for him in my hand and dinner on the table.

Mr. FC&G doesn't even drink martinis, might I add.

Anyway, Tuesday morning I took matters into my own hands and got up an hour early just to do some baking.  The result was these strawberry muffins.  Since I am still using up frozen strawberries from 2010, it seemed like a great idea.  And it was.

I adapted this recipe from AllRecipes.com.  I changed the canola oil to vegetable oil, and I used turbinado sugar instead of white sugar, which accounts for some of the extra browning.  To compensate, next time I would cut the baking time back to 20 minutes and then check them.

Strawberry Muffins (adapted from AllRecipes.com)
1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup milk

1 egg (free range if you can get it)

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 cup turbinado sugar

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup chopped strawberries

Preheat oven to 375 degrees; oil an 8 cup muffin tin, or use paper liners.

In a small bowl, combine oil, milk, and egg. Beat lightly. In a large bowl, mix flour, salt, baking powder and sugar. Toss in chopped strawberries and stir to coat with flour. Pour in milk mixture and stir together. (Note:  This is the AllRecipes instruction.  If you want the 7am FC&G version, it is "toss all ingredients in a bowl and mix.")

Fill muffin cups. Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 20 minutes, or until the tops bounce back from the touch. Cool 10 minutes and remove from pans.
 
The Analysis
 
Fast:  These were very quick to make; I had them in the oven before the coffee finished brewing.  Total prep and cook time was under 45 minutes.
 
Cheap:  Certainly cheaper than grabbing a muffin at Starbucks, and healthier too.
 
Good:  Mr. FC&G had five yesterday.  I daresay he liked a strawberry muffin better than a martini.