Friday Night and Stawberry Basil Muffins

 

It’s Friday night again! And what a week this has been! Plus, there were muffins with strawberries and fresh basil.

The day job…

**The less said about that the better. Too many days. Too many hours. Too many unpleasant surprises.

**But I’m on vacation for most of the upcoming week!!

 

The garden…

**There are enough cherry tomatoes to roast and make Roasted Tomato and Olive Galette. This is one if my favorite summer dishes, and I can hardly wait to make it!

**The progression of the zucchini is rapidly transcending the “gosh, that’s a lot of zucchini” stage into “OMG! What am I going to do with all this zucchini?!?” If I don’t make some zucchini bread soon, I may lose the battle.

Reading…

**You know your reading time is not what you’d like it to be when you can’t finish a stage in A Series of Unfortunate Events in a week. *Sigh*

**Maybe I’ll be able to make some progress on To Green Angel Tower during my vacation, although if I travel, I may just bring something (physically) lighter.

**I’m also having my mind blown away by China Mieville for the third time in my life. I’m deep into The Scar, which may be partially responsible for me not finishing The Miserable Mill, or even trying to get enough sleep at night. Awesome stuff!

**I’m also being gently pressured to read some comic books. Hmmm….

Recipes…

**This week I made and ate a batch of White Bean Soup with Fresh Herbs

 

**Tried and loved some delicious, delicious Zucchini Cheddar Risotto. (More on that in the next week or two.)

**Tried and did not love some zucchini breakfast cookies.

**Curled some puff pastry around homemade basil pesto, palmier style for a fabulous appetizer/snack.

**And made some Strawberry Basil Muffins….

I made these muffins based on this Peach Pecan Muffin recipe, but left off the crumb topping. I also took a strawberries-and-cream approach by making them with heavy cream instead of milk (or buttermilk, or whatever.) The batter ended up very thick, almost trying to be a cookie dough, but only almost. It’s still batter. The strawberries get a bit smashed up as they are stirred in, contributing to the moisture enough to keep things deliciously muffin-y.

I’ve come to love a subtle hint of basil in sweetened baked goods, like these cookies, and it did wonders for these little muffins. Strawberries and basil are good together anyway, and it turns out that basil and muffins are good together, too, for a double whammy.

I hope your week was good, and if you have to work this weekend, I hope your R & R is soon.

Vacation!

Strawberry Basil Muffins

6 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

1 egg

¾ cup sugar

¾ cup heavy cream, plus more if needed

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

1 ½ cup chopped fresh strawberries

¼ cup thinly sliced fresh basil leaves

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Spray a 12-cup muffin tin with cooking spray or line it with paper liners. In a small saucepan, melt the butter. Set aside to cool.

2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir together with a whisk. Set aside.

3. In a medium-size bowl, combine the egg and melted butter. Whisk together until very smooth and pale in color. Whisk in the sugar, continuing to beat until the mixture is smooth and thick. Stir in the heavy cream and vanilla extract.

4. Pour the liquid mixture into the flour mixture and stir just until the dry ingredients are moistened. The batter will be very thick and stiff. Add some more cream if it seems like the dry ingredients will never be moistened.

5. Stir in the strawberries and basil. Again, the batter is thick. Don’t worry about smashing the strawberries into the batter. It’s okay!

6. Scoop the batter into the 12 muffin cups. Bake at 350 F for 30-35 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out with no wet batter clinging to it. Cool in the pan for about 5 minutes. Remove from the pan and cool completely on a wire rack.

Makes 12 muffins.

Other recipes like this one: Peach Pecan Muffins, Poppy Seed and Plum Muffins with Almond, Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins, Blueberry Coconut Muffins

One year ago: Blueberry Banana Quick Bread