Strawberry Lemon Muffins

Between Mean Irene and Jake the Quake, last week was a little more exciting than most. The scheduled hike on Saturday was a wash, but it left me with a snazzy ol' rental car to spin around town. When I finally went to return it on Sunday, the weather was so beautiful, I couldn't resist soaking it up and foregoing the metro in favor of walking home. With a view like this:

You would have done the same thing! So across the Potomac River, I trotted, where I happened to see this pretty little memorial: 

Then I thought the shadow was cool. It doesn't take much to entertain, does it? (Next time I take this type of picture, I will make sure to choose non-grandma shoes and hair that flows like silk.) 

 Then, to the Washington Monument! Pretty, no?

 A little mosaic on one of the embassies on embassy row:

Honestly, I don't know who this guy is, but he seemed thoughtful, and I liked the colors behind his head.

Next time I see this building, I want to be that girl sitting on the side of sphinx, book in hand.

Turns out this little gem of a park is just a half a mile from my apartment - who knew?!

Every adventure has to end with cooking, right? I mean, urban hiking works up an appetite! These little buggers taste GOOD. We all know that I love the zing of tart lemon and the sweetness of strawberries, and these muffins bring out the best of both of those things. Sadly, they weren't the best looking muffins that have ever graced my kitchen. Oh well. Incentive to try them again!

Strawberry Lemon Muffins

Adapted from Baking Bites

2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
6 tbsp butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 tbsp lemon zest
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (I used 6 small lemons)
1 1/2 cups finely chopped fresh strawberries

Preheat oven to 375F. Line a 12 cup muffin pan with paper liners.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in lemon zest, then blend in the eggs one at a time.
Stir in about 1/3 of the flour mixture to the butter mixture. Mix well, then add in vanilla extract and half of the lemon juice. Add another third of the flour, followed by the remaining juice and the remaining flour mix. Stir until just combined and no streaks of dry ingredients remain. Mix in finely chopped strawberries quickly, just to distribute them evenly into the batter.
Spoon batter out into prepared muffin cups. The muffin cups should be very full.
Bake for 15-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean, or with only a few moist crumbs attached. (FYI - mine took over 20 and were still fairly mushy!)

Turn muffins out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Blueberry Muffins

There's a yiddish word, to kvell, that's used to express extreme elation. The best way to visualize it is as rainbows and butterflies bursting from your chest out of sheer joy. That said, I am kvelling at this very moment...because I am heading to New York tomorrow! One of the best of the best friends a girl could ask for, Ms. Gillian, is venturing up from beautiful Durham, NC to surprise her brother bear for his birthday.

Yeeeeeeahicantwaittoseeyoutomorrow,gillie!

I am skipping on up the coast to share in the birthday shenanigans, as well as to see a few faces that I miss oh-so-much. I needed a host gift for the owner (er, renter) of my roof for the next few nights, and blueberry muffins were the treat of request. I could hardly say no, right?

I sure hope these survive the trip up tomorrow - a girl cannot be responsible for her actions after a few hours on the road without supervision...!


Blueberry Muffins
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen
Makes 9 to 10 standard muffins

5 tablespoons unsalted butter , softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
3/4 cup light greek yogurt
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest

Juice from half a lemon
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen (if frozen, don’t bother defrosting)

Preheat oven to 375°F. Line a muffin tin with 10 paper liners or spray each cup with a nonstick spray. Beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add egg and beat well, then yogurt, zest, and lemon juice. Put flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a sifter and sift half of dry ingredients over batter. Mix until combined. Sift remaining dry ingredients into batter and mix just until the flour disappears. Gently fold in your blueberries. The dough will be quite thick. You’re looking for them to be about 3/4 full, nothing more, so you might only need 9 instead of 10 cups. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes (I took mine out at 24 minutes), until tops are golden and a tester inserted into the center of muffins comes out clean (you know, except for blueberry goo). Let cool on rack.

Old Trusties

If ever there was a fall-back baking dish, these muffins are it. They whip up in a cinch, and they give you a mouthful of fall spice and warmth in every bite. I dare you to eat just one.

Oat-Pumpkin Muffins

Makes 18 muffins

1c wheat flour, whole-grain
1c oats
.5c flour
1 cup brown sugar
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup canned pumpkin
3/4 cup low fat yogurt
1/3 cup skim milk
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 egg
1 egg white
.5c raisins

Combine dry ingredients; in another bowl, combine all other ingredients, then add the dry ingredients stirring until moist. Bake at 375 degrees for 18-23 minutes.