I make these muffins all the time. They are super simple and a fan favorite. They are literally the perfect muffin. We often have a big crowd at the beach over the summer and a dozen muffins fills a hole at breakfast. They are also great for menu planning for the week!

I started making these with berries that I had around. Then it turned to fall and I tried it with apples and cinnamon - totally worked great. So I kept trying all of the other fruits that I had on hand. It totally works every time. You cannot go wrong with these muffins! I gave some ideas for mix ins at the bottom so you can see what all of your options are!

Options:

• Apples + 1 teaspoon cinnamon

• Blueberries + 1 teaspoon lemon zest

• Strawberries

• Clear out the fridge of all different berries

• Raspberries

• Blackberries + 1 teaspoon lemon zest

Any Fruit Muffin

makes one dozen

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/3 cup canola oil

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup chopped fruit

1/2 cup sour cream or plain yogurt

2 tablespoons big chunky sugar of your choice

STEP 1

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease the muffin tins. Combine together the flour, sugar and baking powder.

STEP 2

Whisk together the egg, oil, milk and vanilla. Combine the flour mixture with the egg mixture. Then fold in the yogurt.

STEP 3

Add the fruit and carefully stir in. Scoop evenly into the muffin tins.

STEP 4

Sprinkle the top with the crusty sugar of your choice and bake 15-20 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.

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Valentine’s Day is one of my favorite holidays. It’s cheesy and ridiculous and totally unnecessary - which is why it’s the best! I do this one up big - a fun breakfast, a big family dinner, and themed lunches that are totally quirky. I cut the kids sandwiches into hearts, I draw on mandarin oranges, and I cut hearts out of colored paper and stuff their lunch boxes so they literally explode when they open their lunch.

You can’t celebrate all day if you don’t start early in the morning! This is a super simple breakfast that you can pull off on a school day - swap out waffle mix if you don’t want to make them from scratch - the secret is in adding freeze dried strawberries to the batter. They’ll soften slightly in the batter and totally soften when they are cooked.

You can use fresh berries, but I found that the freeze dried berries keep their flavor better when the waffles are cooked. The fresh berries mush and cook more quickly which adds a cool pink color, but lacks the punch I’m going for here.

STRAWBERRY WAFFLES WITH BERRY SAUCE

2 cups milk

1/2 cup melted butter

2 eggs

1 cup freeze dried strawberries

2 cups flour

2 tbs sugar

1 tbs baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

Combine together dry ingredients in a large bowl. In another bowl, which together milk, melted butter and eggs. Pour the milk mixture into the flour mixture and stir until just combined - there will be a few lumps.

Then add the strawberries and stir until they are incorporated into the batter. Let the batter rest 3-5 minutes while the waffle maker heats up.

BERRY SAUCE

1/2 cup strawberries

1/2 cup raspberries

2 tbs orange juice

1 tbs sugar

1 tbs cointreau (optional)

In a small saucepan, combine all ingredients and bring the a boil. As soon as it boils, turn the heat down and let it simmer until it begins to thicken up. Smash the berries with a fork to push out the juices and break them down. Serve warm over the waffles.

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I started creating this cake with nectarines last summer and I became obsessed with it. It’s so ridiculously simple and it’s always so good. I made it with nectarines, peaches, blueberries, figs, Italian plums (I don’t recommend that one), apples, strawberries, and raspberries. It’s such a great recipe to have in your back pocket when you need something that’s impressive and you don’t have to think about it.

Also, makes a good breakfast!

SIMPLE STRAWBERRY CAKE

serves 4-6

½ cup butter, room temperature

1 cup white sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/3 cup all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

½ cup sour cream

1 cup chopped strawberries

¼ cup turbinado sugar

STEP 1

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease the bottom of a 9” round pan. Cream together butter and white sugar until light and fluffy.

            ½ cup butter

            1 cup white sugar

STEP 2

Whisk in eggs and vanilla until combined.

            2 eggs

            1 teaspoon vanilla

STEP 3

In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients.

            1 1/3 cup all purpose flour

            1 teaspoon baking powder

            ¼ teaspoon salt

STEP 4

Alternate adding dry ingredients and sour cream starting and ending with dry ingredients.  Add the flour in two batches with the sour cream added in between.  Gently fold in fruit.  

            ½ cup sour cream

          1 cup strawberries

STEP 5

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and sprinkle the turbinado sugar on top.  Bake 35-40 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely before serving.  

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