Fresh Strawberry Lemon Muffins
I can’t pass up soft and lush fresh strawberries when I see them in the market. The hue of red catches my eye and I know they are juicy and ready to eat. Because I am the Muffin Maker – LOL, I couldn’t go the season without creating these Fresh Strawberry Lemon Muffins.
There is a secret ingredient in here: Thyme. Thyme and Fresh Lemon are a delicious combo, especially for savory dishes. But have you tried it with baking? Before you think about omitting thyme from this recipe, try something new and test out this flavor combination! I use dried thyme for the strawberry muffins and then I garnish with fresh. {garnishing is optional}
I tried something new myself and used buttermilk in this recipe. I happened to have it on hand for something else and thought hmmm, let’s see where this goes and it tastes great and gives good moisture.
Can I freeze these muffins?
Yes! I appreciate my carbs on hand , especially on a Monday morning, when I’m STRUGGLING to get some energy going! So freezing some gluten free muffins totally make my day easier by having healthy, ready to eat choices available. You can bake off a batch, let them cool completely, then individually wrap them in a freezer safe zip lock. You can reheat the muffins in the microwave for 30-40 seconds.
Ways to enjoy these Fresh Strawberry Lemon Muffins
I eat these as is – so fresh out of the oven, I wait for them to cool a few minutes and then we all dig in. Yes, sometimes the roof of my mouth does suffer because I don’t always wait til they are cooled enough! But there are some toppings or spreads that you can put on these that your taste buds will thank you for later. Here are some suggestions:
- strawberry jam { I mean why not? Bring it!}
- lemon curd
- cream cheese
- butter {wait, melted butter?!}
- honey
- honey butter {I’m making myself hungry!}
Other substitutions:
If you don’t have buttermilk, you use can use regular milk with a tinge of vinegar or plain yogurt. Ghee can be swapped out with regular unsalted butter. Demerara sugar can be replaced with turbinado sugar. You can also create a crumb topping with all purpose flour, sugar and butter. Lastly, I highly recommend fresh strawberries for this recipe, however you can use frozen but make sure you defrost them and drain the excess juices.
Looking for more Gluten Free Muffin recipes? Try my Moist Vegan Banana Blueberry Muffins and also for chocolate lovers, check out my Chocolate Hazelnut Muffins .
Now Let’s Bake Some Fresh Strawberry Lemon Muffins!
Fresh Strawberry Lemon Muffins
Equipment
- muffin tin
- Muffin Liners
- large mixing bowl
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups gluten free flour
- 1/2 cup cornmeal
- 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 cup white sugar
- 2 tablespoons demerara sugar for dusting
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 cup strawberries sliced, plus a few more for garnish
- 3/4 cup buttermilk
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tablespoons ghee
- 1/2 lemon lemon zest and lemon juice using 1/2 of the lemon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- In a large bowl, combine the gluten free flour plus all the other dry ingredients. Gently whisk to combine.
- In a separate bowl , combine the buttermilk, eggs, ghee, lemon zest and lemon juice. Give it a stir to combine and then add to the dry ingredients.
- Stir together with a whisk.
- Using a lined muffin tin, divide the batter evenly into the 12 cups.
- Place sliced strawberries on top, about 2-3 slices each muffin. Then sprinkle the top of the strawberries and the muffin with the demerara sugar.
- Put the muffins in the oven for 20 min and bake until a toothpick comes out clean in the center.
- Remove when done and set aside to cool for 10 minutes.
- Then transfer the muffins to a cooling rack. Store in an airtight container.
