Let me get this out of the way first before I continue: there is no chocolate in these muffins. Not even a morsel. I know, I know, that is essentially unheard of for my recipes. I’m usually of the mindset that chocolate makes everything better, so why would I not put something chocolate in a recipe that’s already delicious to make it even more so? But yesterday was different. I was feeling fruity. And I was feeling like I wanted to bake something, which most often means I’m about to whip out the semi-sweets. However, I’ll be the first to admit, the combining of fruit and chocolate is almost like a science. Chocolate chip banana bread? Get at me. Chocolate-covered orange slices? Get at me so I can throw you in the trash can. I don’t know if there’s a rhyme and a reason to the acceptable fruit-and-chocolate combinations, but I do know that it’s very hit or miss. Sometimes the two just don’t get along very well. Does anyone actually eat the fruit-filled chocolates that come in the boxes of assorted truffles? If you do, I’m not judging you. I’m just…questioning your life choices and wondering if there is something wrong with your taste palate.
These Strawberry-Blueberry Muffins are one of those times; I decided to keep it simple and knix the addition of any sort of chocolate. However, I did resolve to add a cinnamon streusel to bake on top of the muffins to give them an added crunchy texture that would be missed without the addition of chocolate chips. I think that this crumbly addition gives these giant muffins the classic coffee-shop feel. That, and the fact that these are the kind of muffins that pop over the pan to form an extra large muffin top. Is there anything better than big muffin tops? (I am indeed talking about the tops of muffins, not the kind of muffin top that likes to host itself around my mid-section.)
These muffins came to be the other night during a classic scenario that I find myself in occasionally: “I have too much ripened fruit at my house and I need something to do with it before it goes bad.” I’m usually not too bad about utilizing the food and produce that I buy at the store, but this was not one of those times. However, there is a legitimate reason for the surplus of fruit that was sitting in my fridge. A couple of weeks ago, I took a break from my beloved, fruit-filled overnight oats that I have eaten as my school breakfast every single morning for the past 4 years. It was slightly traumatic the other day, when I was sitting at my desk, eating my oats, and all of the sudden I looked down at them and said aloud: “I realllllly don’t want to eat you anymore.” (Me talking to my oats is a somewhat common occurrence, so don’t be worried about my sanity; I’m aware that it’s dwindling.) Anyway, long story short, I needed to take a break from my oats for a little while and come up with a breakfast alternative. Unfortunately, my breakfast alternative did not consist of heaping cups of fresh fruit, which is how the excess of berries in my fridge came to be. And with that, I got to working on this berry delicious muffin recipe.
These muffins are moist and crumbly at the same time, they burst with fruit juice every time you bite into a berry, and the cinnamon streusel adds a wonderful texture and sweetness that doesn’t overwhelm the entire muffin with cinnamonneyness. If you have berries in your fridge and you can’t figure out what to do with them, you could just eat them plain. Or, you could just not be so health-conscious and mundane, and put them in some muffins. Strawberry Blueberry Muffins with Cinnamon Streusel, to be exact. Don’t deny it, you know you like the sound of option 2. And trust me on this one, you’ll like the taste even better!
[yumprint-recipe id=’24’]
Why are you so cute? I love your writing. And I love your baked goods even more.