Healthy(ish) Strawberry Mini Muffins

I don’t need to be the one to tell you that things have been nothing short of crazy lately. Some of you have endured more pain and hardship than I’ll ever know, especially these last few months. First, COVID-19 quite literally made the world stop in its tracks. Neil and I were both fortunate enough to keep our jobs and work from home, and although balancing our family’s schedule proved to be ever stressful, I am thankful we had the opportunity to do so and remained healthy throughout. The silver lining gifted to us during this pandemic has been time with our daughter, who is 14 months (How has it been that long? Time is so weird.). I never thought we’d get to spend so much time together as a family, and for that I feel overwhelmingly blessed. Sweet moments with Quinn have kept us ever optimistic and grounded as tragedy continues to spiral throughout the world.

On May 25th of this year, Americans were reminded yet again of racism and injustices in our country through the horrific murder of George Floyd. I’ve done a lot of reflecting and listening to the Black community and my Black friends these past few weeks. Through it all, I’ve struggled with what to say, what to post, how to articulate my thoughts and feelings, and on which platforms it would be most appropriate to do so. So often I struggle to post the perfect caption, overthinking the grammar, the context, and I send it to Neil and a few others to look over to edit before posting. But I’ve come to the realization that when speaking out regarding injustices against other humans, my words don’t need to be perfect. The best the I can do is to speak, and beyond that, to do. To act. Name the wrong in the world. Wrestle with it. Don’t feel obligated to post something on social media out of pressure, but do feel obligated to be a part of the solution. For some, that means using your social media platform to create change. For others, it means donating money to a cause that creates change. And for some, it means consciously spending your money supporting businesses that are run by and/or elevate Black lives. However you choose to act, we encourage you to do so and do so out of love and respect for other human beings. Don’t let this moment in time pass you by, for how you act today will have an impact on tomorrow.

We want to raise our little girl to have love and compassion for others, teaching her that we all are beautiful just the way we are. To seek truth and justice, to raise her voice for those whose voices need to be amplified, and to stand her ground while doing so. If we are not standing our ground in the fight for equal rights, respect, and love for ALL people, how can she?

Through these tumultuous times, Neil and I have both craved time in the kitchen. Baking, cooking, and creating has always been and will probably always be our way to de-stress. Honestly, the Newlywed Chefs often now looks like one of us playing with Quinn and the other cooking, and you know what? That’s okay. We have always enjoyed home cooking, and this quarantine allowed us to hone those skills, since we were doing it every day. Neil, like many others, has become our resident bread baker. He’s really used this time to develop an understanding of how to bake, and is slowly working through the many recipes on the King Arthur Flour website. Our meals the last few months have ranged from Asian food to shrimp boils to kicking up frozen Trader Joe’s ingredients. For those of you that have seen some of our creations on Instagram, if you message us, we’ll write out the recipe for you or share with you the one we used.

These strawberry muffins were featured on Instagram a few weeks ago, and I thought the recipe was worth sharing. I wanted to create a recipe I could easily offer our 14-month-old daughter, who loves strawberries, without feeling guilty about the ingredients. Also, I just wanted to bake something and post a recipe because DANG, it’s been a long time.

We hope you enjoy this recipe. But more than that, we hope you are well. Throughout the hardship we have endured across the globe, we hope that you continue to find joy and beauty around you. We hope you have reconnected with family and friends during the last few months in new and creative ways, and while mourning the loss of routine life as we knew it, have experienced growth and new life rising from the pain. For those of you who have experienced loss during this time, please know that our hearts are breaking for you. For those of you experiencing injustice due to the color of your skin, please know that we are here to walk alongside you. And although we will never know that pain, we are here to support and love you. We are all learning how to do life differently. Let’s continue lifting each other up. Sending you with love, peace, a virtual hug, and strawberry muffins.

Strawberry Mini Muffins

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/3 cup melted coconut oil

1 cup 0% fat plain Greek yogurt

2 eggs

2 cups plus 1 cup (for topping) strawberries, chopped small

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 400°. Use a non-stick spray to grease a mini muffin tin.*

In the bowl of an electric stand mixer, using the paddle attachment, cream the eggs and sugar. Add Greek yogurt, coconut oil (cooled), and vanilla and continue to mix on low. In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Add the dry ingredients in two batches, mixing in between additions. Add 2 cups of strawberries, continuing to mix on low until strawberries are well incorporated.

Drop a heaping tablespoon of batter into each tin. Bake for 10 minutes, or until a toothpick placed in the center of the muffins comes out clean. Place tin on a wire rack and allow to cool for at least 10 minutes. Use a pairing knife to loosen sides of the muffins and transfer muffins to the wire rack to cool completely before serving.

Makes 48 mini muffins.

*We tried this recipe also using mini muffin paper liners, but we really liked how they turned out WITHOUT the liners.