By the next morning, when I took this picture, the streusel topping had melded with the muffin top.
After last month's muffin post, one of my favorite bloggers, Wendy of Pink Stripes, tipped me off to a wonderful springtime muffin that she thought would be a good Muffin of the Month for me to make for my mother. Not only was that an exceptionally thoughtful suggestion, Wendy managed to hit the nail right on the head! My mother has a million food allergies and sensitivities, and this recipe is filled with things that my mother actually can eat - and the muffins are healthy and pretty to boot! The original recipe, from Eating Well, is for Strawberry Orange Muffins, but there is a variation for Strawberry Basil Muffins which sounded intriguing. I'm a fool for herbs, so that's what I baked.
n.o.e.'s notes:
- The pink and green colors that accent this muffin variation make it so pretty!
- I love the fact that this recipe has an oil-based streusel - I used light-flavored olive oil. There isn't a ton of topping, and it barely stretched for my 14 muffins.
- Because my silicone muffin molds are dark, I lowered the oven temperature to 380 degrees. Even so, they cooked quickly. I pulled them out at 15 minutes.
- It wasn't until I was jotting down my notes for this recipe that I realized that I forgot to put the oil in the muffin batter. Oops! Luckily they seemed to bake up nicely.
the verdict:
I was anxious to taste a muffin to see if it turned out. It was plenty moist even without the oil, but I'll make sure to include it next time. The muffin wasn't decadent or rich, but had a lovely springtime flavor of strawberries and fresh herbs.
For some reason my streusel topping was a little bit salty, but it was more or less successful with the savory notes of the basil. From what I tasted, I can tell that this muffin recipe would be right up my alley, so I will definitely bake the muffins again - and next time hope I don't make any errors!
I'm frustrated that I've managed to mess up my mom's muffins for the second month in a row. As a consolation gift, I gave her a loaf of Anadama bread - click to see my Anadama post on my new bread blog.
Tune in next month; we'll see if I can manage to put together a batch of muffins without making any mistakes!
12 comments:
Ooo, Nancy, it's so funny you posted about these fabulous muffins. I was just in the grocery eying the basil. It smelled so deliciously herby and sweet; I thought to myself: I could bake with this! And now you've gone and made strawberry and basil muffins. How fabulous! I can't wait to try out this recipe.
Strawberry and basil sounds so refreshing and spring-y! It's not often that we can leave out a key ingredient and have the recipe turn out, so this one sounds like a keeper.
Sounds like a very interesting muffin!
Strawberry and Basil sounds like quite an interesting combination, bet it worked beautifully.
I forgot to add the oil to my Gingerbread last week, I didn't realise till I re read the recipe through. Ooops.
Katie xox
Ohh these sound slike the perfect spring/summer muffin! I may just have to try them out for my hubbie who absolutely loves basil! LOVE your blog btw-- and the title. From one dog lover to another
~S
I am loving your breads. And have been making more and more sweet things with herbs. I'll try this one next.
Strawberries and basil, I never would have thought of that combination, it sounds great! Oil based streusal?! I have to give that one a try because I don't like mine too rich.
I love the flavor combination of basil and strawberries. They are a lovely flavor match!
Your muffins look so pretty! With the oil, they were super moist--almost too moist. How did your Mom like them?
I've seen it a couple of times, and am always curious to how basil must add to a sweet dish... think it's about time for me to try!
Thanks for sharing...
Interesting--I wouldn't have thought to pair basil with the strawberries. I hope your mom enjoyed them!
You just crack me up..."forgot the oil...oops" and saying you will be sure to include it next time...LOL. The muffins look really great.
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