Strawberry Muffins

These are more like a cake than a muffin.  Light, not at all dense and the perfect balance of sweet and savory ( I added a touch of balsamic).  These would be a delicious addition to any brunch menu or they could really just stand on their own.

I like making muffins for breakfast.  The ingredients can be measured out the night before, they take 5 minutes to mix up and only about 25 minutes to bake.  Muffins are best eaten the day they are made.  I usually send the uneaten muffins to their teachers and the school's office staff. If I didn't, I would eat them, all of them,  and that just wouldn't be such a good thing!

Strawberry Muffins
yield: 16 muffins

ingredients:
2 cups organic unbleached flour
2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 cup sucanat
1/2 cup butter, cold, cut into cubes
1 egg
1 cup organic heavy cream
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/4 cup strawberries, diced
1 1/2 Tbls. balsamic vinegar
powdered sugar

instructions:
• preheat oven to 350*.  line 16 muffin cups with paper liners
• in a small bowl combine the strawberries and the balsamic. set aside
• in the bowl of a food processor, pulse the flour, baking powder, and sugar.  add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal.
• combine the egg, cream and vanilla, whisk and add to the flour mixture.  pulse a few times until the mixture JUST comes together.  don't over mix.
• drain the berries of most of it's liquid and add to the batter.  mix by hand until the strawberries are embedded into the dough.
• scoop into the prepared muffin tins ( I use a 1/2 cup ice cream scooper ).
• bake for 25-30 minutes.  they are ready when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean with a little bit of crumbs on them.
• let cool completely and then dust with powdered sugar.

ENJOY!