Almond-Strawberry Yogurt Muffins

Strawberry season is ending this week in Illinois, but just getting started elsewhere. It's just the beginning of summer's bounty of fruit, and I've tried to take full advantage. I usually eat strawberries raw or in a sauce, but I decided to try incorporating them into a baked good. This one took a couple of tries, but the end result was something hearty and delicious. Chopped strawberries and slivered almonds, oat flour for a little texture (and source of whole grains!), a mixture of honey and sugar for some subtle sweetness, plus yogurt to make for a moist muffin with just a little tang - put these things together, and you've got a great muffin to celebrate the start of summer!

Note: Allowing the strawberries to drain after chopping is important - my first attempt was pretty soggy, since the strawberries were too moist to allow the bread around them to properly cook. Also, while honey works well as a replacement for sugar, here using just honey led to an off flavor, so a mixture of honey and sugar was best.

Ingredients

1 cup oat flour, sifted*

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1/3 cup clover honey
1/3 cup sugar

4 Tbsp butter, cold

3/4 cup plain lowfat greek yogurt

1 egg

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 cup fresh strawberries, washed, hulled, & chopped

2/3 cup slivered almonds

Directions

1. Once strawberries are chopped, allow them to sit and drain in a colander.

2. Sift together flours, baking powder, baking soda, and sugar. Add in chunks of butter, and cut together with a fork (or food processor) until butter pieces are smaller than peas.

3. Mix yogurt, egg, and vanilla in a medium mixing bowl. Add flour-butter mixture and stir just until blended.

4. Fold in chopped strawberries and almonds, being careful not to overmix.

5. Spoon mixture into paper-lined muffin cups or a 9x5" bread loaf pan.

6. Bake in a 350 degree F oven for 25-30 min (muffins) or ~1 hour (loaf).

7. Allow to cool in pan for 10 min, then transfer to a wire rack. Give in to the urge to bite into a muffin before they've cooled completely. Delayed gratification can be so overrated sometimes.

*Don't go out and buy oat flour; there's no need to overload the pantry. If you have a blender or a food processor, you can easily make your own in about 2 minutes. Take 1 1/4 cup rolled oats (not quick/instant oats), add to blender/processor, and turn on, stopping it to check every 30 sec or so until it's reached a flour-like consistency. Once that's done, just sift it through a sieve to get out the chunks and you've got yourself some fresh flour. This technique will give you whole flour for basically any grain, seed or legume you have lying around.