Berry-Smashed Muffins

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...I'll be swapping coasts mid-May. Our youngest daughter, who despite her accomplishments and chronological age, will forever be known to her dad and me as "Baby Girl", is scheduled for surgery, so, I'll be heading East to provide an extra pair of hands till she's back on her feet. There is a silver lining to all of this. Her boys are squeezably sweet, and these old bones, like those of Faust, fully understand the need to say to the passing moment, "Stay, thou art so fair." Some of those moment will be spent in the kitchen and I've been searching for recipes that are workable for the little guys. I've stumbled on a children's cookbook, compiled by General Mills/Gold Medal Flour, that's called, The Rainbow Bakery: A Full Color Adventure Children's Cookbook Today's feature recipe comes from the book and I think you'll find that it makes a mean muffin, even for those over six. The recipe is simple and it makes a barely sweet breakfast or tea treat. If you like your muffins a bit more on the sweet side, I suggest sprinkling the top of the batter with a smidgen of granulated or cinnamon sugar before the muffins are baked. In young hands, these muffins will be messy to prepare, so have aprons and paper towels at the ready. The smashing of the berries can result in a scene worthy of an axe murder, so some supervision will be necessary. This, by the way, is a wonderful recipe for camp or cottage kitchens. I do hope you'll give this recipe a try. Here's how the muffins are made.

Berry-Smashed Muffins...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite courtesy of The Rainbow Bakery by General Mills/Gold Medal

Ingredients
1-2/3 cups fresh strawberries
2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1-1/2 cups Gold Medal all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions
1) Heat oven to 425 F. Put a paper baking cup in each of 12 regular-size muffin cups, or grease just the bottoms of 12 muffin cups.
2) Slightly smash strawberries in large bowl, using fork. Stir in sugar, oil and eggs until mixed. Stir in other ingredients just until moistened.
3) Spoon batter into muffin cups. Bake 15 to 18 minutes or until light golden brown or toothpick poked in center comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes. Loosen sides of muffins from pan if needed, and take them out of the pan. Yield: 12 muffins.








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