Moist Healthy Strawberry Muffins Recipe (2024)

I saw some beautiful strawberries at the supermarket (the only place I can go to at the moment), a couple of weeks ago.
Needless to say I immediately started thinking "Mmm what should I bake with them?", then this idea came up.

Ladies and gents, say hello to the best (see below why;)) strawberry muffins recipe you could hope for! Soft, delicious and enriched with whole wheat flour!

This strawberry muffins recipe couldn't be easier...

First of all: I love easy recipes. I loooooove them. I mean, what's more satisfying than a simple, quick, delicious dish? Oh, wait, yeah: a simple, quick and delicious dessert 😉

If you know me even just a bit, you know that I always love to break down the process into a few steps.
Therefore, here's how to make this easy strawberry muffins recipe in 3 steps (technically 4):

1. Combine wet ingredients
   First cream ricotta and eggs together, then add sugar, vanilla and oil.
2. Add dry ingredients
   Add flours, cinnamon powder, baking powder, salt and chopped strawberries, then stir without over-mixing the batter.
3. Make the syrupy topping
   Add fresh chopped strawberries into a small pan, then also add honey and cinnamon powder. Cook for a few minutes until syrupy.
   I swear, this adds the extra touch.
4. Bake (check for doneness)
   Bake these delicious healthy strawberry muffins for about 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean (a few crumbs are ok).

Important notes about this strawberry muffins recipe: texture and flavor

This strawberry muffins recipe needed to be tested a few times before reaching perfection. Luckily I got an amazing result at the second attempt: I tested different amount of sweetener, flour and fruit, until I got the perfect result.

FLOUR

I tested these muffins with type 1 flour, which is less refined than all purpose (or 00), and then a combination of all purpose and whole wheat.
The latter is known for absorbing more liquids. Despite this, the muffins were great! Soft and moist, because of the right amount of fats.
Whole wheat flour also makes your muffins more nutritious.

SWEETENER

The first time I've used honey, the second time I've used raw brown sugar. Both are great but sugar gave that extra touch, in my opinion.

STRAWBERRIES

The first time, I've used 100 grams of those beautiful strawberries I found at the supermarket (read the intro), that unfortunately turned out to be very bland and tasteless.
Consequently, the second time I've doubled the amount of fruit and used amazing Italian strawberries. The difference was noteworthy!

Pretty obvious: the tastier your strawberries are, the better these muffins will be and the less sweetener you will have to use.

BATTER'S TEXTURE

If the texture of your batter is pretty thick, not thin, then it's the right consistency.
Your muffins will be so moist and delicious! Almost creamy.

How do you make muffins moist?

Ahhhh I love answering these kinds of questions, because they allow me to "investigate" the science behind desserts;)

The short answer is: FATS. A moist muffin contains enough fat. Seems logical, right?
And technically, it's because oil or butter "coat the flour's absorbent starch granules, minimizing the ability to absorb moisture in the finished muffins" (source).

Moreover, to increase moisture, you can use "key" ingredients like:

• buttermilk or greek yogurt instead of milk (in this recipe I'm using ricotta);
• raw brown sugar or honey instead of regular sugar;
• zucchini, carrots or fruit will help making your muffins more moist too (yep, that's why these carrot muffins and these zucchini chocolate ones are soft and moist!;))

And how do you make muffins fluffy?

Nothing new here: as I mentioned in the fluffy pancakes post (I highly recommend reading it), if your goal is softness then you need something thattraps air, and that isgluten, our "structure".

By mixing your batter, gluten's proteins will start bonding one with each other andform a network(= structure).
Bubbles will be trapped and you will obtain soft muffins.

It's important though to not over-mix the mixture: if you over-mix, the tighter the structure becomes and the toughest your muffins will be.

How do you fix dried muffin batter?

When developing recipes for blog or clients I usually test once, then if something didn't work I take note, so I can adjust it next time.
When I get dry muffins/cake, I usually add more oil, butter, whole milk or raw brown sugar until I get the right consistency.

It's all about looking at your batter and adjusting it.

Do you have other questions?

It's not easy to answer all the questions you may have, so PLEASE leave a comment below and I'm glad to reply! Thank you.

If you make this recipe, please be sure to give it a rating and leave a comment! It would make me so happy! 🙂

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Loved these muffins? Try these carrot cake muffins as well: soft, easy and delicious!

©Healthy Little Cravings – Roberta Dall’Alba.
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