Strawberry Banana Muffins: Tastes of Summer

This is not just any muffin. This is a strawberry and banana muffin. It's sweet, charming and a perky little thing.

See that cookbook? Just looking at it, you cen tell it's full of classics, right? This was published the same year I was born, and like all things from that year, this is a great, reliable little book that has seen me through a number of muffin and bread-like adventures. It also has the great bonus feature of a few hand written corrections from my mum, the original owner. I have a few cookbooks in my kitchen that have been around since the beginning of my time and I love checking out the recipes that were "au courant" in the 80's to see how tastes have changed (a lot!).  I also know that when I need to peel something back to the basics, these are the best references a girl can hope for.

Anyway...with ol' faithful there by my side, a hankering to get baking again after my recent trip to France and some strawberries left in the freezer from last picking season that were begging to be used, I got searching and I soon found what I was looking for ... sort of. I came across a recipe for banana date muffins. Admittedly not at all what I was looking for originally, but the description under the title said "A perky little muffin." Obviously I had no choice but to use and adapt this recipe and make it work. And boy did it!

The strawberry and banana work together in that perfect, classic unison, and by chopping rather than mashing the fruits you get awesome little bursts of delicious.

These muffins are just so dang charming they are bound to put a pep in your step, they happily pass their perkiness on to you.  You're welcome.

These muffins whip up really quickly and easily.  I'm sure I spent more time taking these photos than I did actually making the muffins themselves.

Once combined the texture should be lumpy and quite thick. This will make a batch of 12.  Happily, these also freeze quite nicely.  Just pop it in the microwave/toaster oven for quick run and you are good to go!

See those big chunks of banana and strawberry? That's a good thing. A great thing.  Once baked, those add the best pop of flavour you ever did taste. Scrumptious. 

Now go, bake, and enjoy!

Strawberry Banana Muffins
Adapted from Company's Coming: Muffins and More

2 Cups all purpose flour (or whole wheat all purpose)
1/2 cup sugar
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup melted butter
1 cup milk
3/4 cup chopped fresh or frozen strawberries
3/4 cup chopped banana (about 1 large)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400F
2. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Stir together and make a well in the center
3. In a medium bowl, mix the beaten egg with the butter, milk, strawberries and banana.
4. Pour the wet ingredients into the well of the dry ingredients and stir just enough to combine. As you can see, the batter will be quite lumpy.
5. Fill muffin cups about 3/4 full and bake for 18-20 minutes (test with a toothpick - if it's clean, they are done)
6. Let stand for 5 minutes, remove from pan and allow to cool on wire rack, or gobble them all up in one go, I won't judge you.