Celebratory Gluten-Free Strawberry Muffins #MuffinMonday

In February I saw a post from one of my favorite bloggers - Wendy at A Day in the Life on the Farm - and I realized that they've been having a muffin party for years without me. LOL. I emailed the host, Stacy of Food Lust People Love and got the scoop: "...last Monday of the month and no themes. We've been baking together since August 2015! Only one rule, you must use the muffin method (folding wet ingredients with dry - no creaming butter and sugar, etc.) to bake muffins."

Oh, my goodness...is that the muffin rule? That makes total sense. But I had no idea. 

In my house we've always said that if it's 'naked' as in frosting-free, it's a muffin; if there's frosting, then it's a cupcake. Turns out there's more to it than that. In any case, I jumped in. This is my second month participating with the #MuffinMonday bloggers.

Here's the line-up for this reveal...

• Celebratory Gluten-Free Strawberry Muffins from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Chocolate Coconut Banana Muffins from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Chocolate Mocha Muffins from Making Miracles
• Coffee Cake Muffins from Zesty South Indian Kitchen
• Cornbread Muffins from Passion Kneaded
• Sweet Potato Spelt Muffins from Food Lust People Love
• Toffee Mocha Muffins from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Tomato-Basil Muffins from Palatable Pastime
• Wild Violet Muffins from Farm Fresh Feasts

Celebratory Gluten-Free 

Strawberry Muffins

Today, my Love turned 45. That means we've been together for more than half his life. I met him when he was just 22! He would probably rather not have his birthday celebrated. Too bad.

Note to self: if you stick a thin birthday candle in the muffin while it's still hot, the candle will melt. Whoops. The Precise Kitchen Elf declared, "It's okay. I'm sure it's culinary grade wax." Hilarious.

I decided to make celebratory strawberry muffins because the baskets of beautiful organic strawberries were calling to me at the market earlier this week. And, because my gluten-free baking is sometimes if-y (read: dense, flat, and grainy), I used a gluten-free baking mix. Yep, I did.

And it paid off. The muffins were raised and fluffy. The boys even doubted it was gluten-free. Then, I told them it was a mix and they said, "Oh, that explains it." Okay...I obviously need to hone my gluten-free baking skills a little more.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups King Arthur Gluten-Free All-Purpose Baking Mix
• 1/3 C organic granulated sugar
• 1/4 C olive oil
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 C milk
• 1/2 t pure vanilla extract
• 3/4 C organic strawberries, chopped

Procedure

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line muffin pan with paper liners.

In a medium mixing bowl, stir together the baking mix and sugar. Whisk in the oil, eggs, milk, and vanilla. With a spatula, scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl, and mix just until moistened.

Fold in the strawberries. Using a kitchen scoop, fill the muffin cups about three-quarters of the way full. Place in the oven and bake for 23 to 25 minutes. The tops should be golden brown and firm to the touch.

Let cool in the pan for at least 5 minutes before removing them to a wire rack. You can cool them more or serve them immediately.