Strawberry Yogurt Muffins

Do you read all of the comments and/or reviews that accompany online recipes? I usually do. For the most part I find them really helpful and have gotten a lot of tips for substitutions as well as advice that helped me avoid potential problems with the recipe (like when the proportions seem off, or an ingredient doesn't seem like it would "go"). In fact, this recipe was essentially born out of the comments left on the original recipe, which did not call for cinnamon or brown sugar (without which the muffins would probably be terribly bland) and used milk rather than yogurt for moisture. So yay and thank you, reviewers.

Well, some of you. Those of you that make so many substitutions that your end result is no longer even in the same food group as the original recipe and have the gall to complain (I didn't have milk, so I used oil, and I don't eat eggs, so I just left them out, and I like things spicy so I used 1/2 cup of jerk seasoning, and I baked them for 3 times as long as you suggested and they were the WORST CUPCAKES EVER, 0 STARS BOOOO!!!!111!!!) you can just...stop. You too, 90% of people who write product reviews at babiesrus.com (I can't wait until my baby comes so I can use this!).

But enough complaining. As I said before, the reviewers were spot on about this one, and with the necessary adjustments, it makes a lovely little breakfast muffin.

Strawberry Yogurt Muffins
adapted from allrecipes.com

1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup plain yogurt (I used full-fat)
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 to 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup granulated sugar (plus a tsp or so for sprinkling)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup chopped fresh strawberries

Preheat oven to 375 and line muffin tin with paper liners.

In a small bowl, combine oil, yogurt, egg, and vanilla until blended. In a medium bowl, whisk together salt, baking powder, cinnamon, and flour to combine. Add the strawberries to the dry ingredients and toss lightly to coat (this prevents the fruit from sinking to the bottom of the muffins). Gently fold in wet mixture and mix just until combined - do not overmix.

Fill muffin cups 2/3 full and sprinkle the tops with a tiny bit of granulated sugar. Bake for approximately 25 minutes, or until golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the tin for a few minutes then transfer to a rack to complete cooling. Makes 12-14 standard-sized muffins.

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Stella remains devilish as ever, getting into anything and everything. She is pushing herself up to a sitting position now, pulling herself to standing, and slowly cruising around her music table. And as we discovered yesterday, she will take a few steps if we hold her hands. According to our scale she has gained almost 2 pounds in just over a month (quite a large gain compared to the last few months), so I would say that eating is going well! We are slowly working toward cutting down on nursing and on a good day I can get away with four or five nursing sessions. That's a lot of progress in a short time, so go us!

We brought home her first baby pool this weekend. Kevin inflated it in the living room and Stella proceeded to drag every toy she owns into it and then climbed in herself. She had so much fun that way I almost wanted to leave the pool inside. Yesterday we filled it, buttered Stella up from head to toe with the SPF 60 (we are ghastly pale Scottish and Irish folk), and put her in. At first she was thoroughly offended by the cold water but she seemed to warm up to it and eventually had a pretty good time splashing around and "swimming" on her tummy. I think she will be begging to go in when the lovely 100 degree Kansas summer comes around.

This bath is ice cold, mother. Unacceptable.

A quick p.s. while we're on the subject of comments - I have comment notification turned on but have never actually received a notification from blogger. I missed some comments on older posts because of this. Just wanted to make sure those people know their comments were appreciated and not ignored!