Lighter Strawberry Muffins

This is definitely a new favorite for something sweet that could double as breakfast or a dessert. I was really trying to reduce the amount of egg, milk, sugar, and flour to cut calories and fat and the result is really quite satisfying! (My calculations put these muffins at 175 calories each)

Strawberry Muffins

1 stick salted butter, room temp
2/3 cup sugar
1 large egg, room temp
1 cup of strawberry puree*
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup flour
3/4 cup oats
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup chopped fresh strawberries
1-2 tbsp flour
optional red coloring

*For puree you can use 1/2 lb of frozen thawed strawberries or the equivalent of fresh strawberries with 1 tbsp of added water to loosen the mixture.

Preheat your oven to 375º and line a dozen standard muffin tin with liners.

Cream together butter and sugar, then mix in egg. Once well mixed, add puree and vanilla extract and 4-5 drops of red food coloring if desired (without the coloring, the fresh puree in the batter will make the muffins dark brownish. If you are serving them to people besides yourself, you may want to brighten up the color a little to make them more obviously strawberry and a little more visually appealing).

Separately, mix together baking soda, powder, and flour. Slowly mix these dry ingredients into your wet mix until just combined.

With a rubber spatula, fold in oats. Spread the strawberries out over a paper towel and pat dry a bit. In a separate bowl, sprinkle and toss chopped strawberries with enough flour to coat them, as this will prevent them from sinking to the bottom of the muffin while baking. Once coated, fold into the batter.

Divide the batter evenly between the 12 muffin liners and bake for 20-25 minutes. Check with a toothpick. Allow to cool slightly before eating/serving. Enjoy!