Strawberry Chocolate Chip Muffins

• All purpose flour – When making muffins, I like to keep it simple and use all purpose flour. It has that mid range protein content perfect for muffins. You can read all about the different types of flour here if you really want to nerd out. Nothing wrong with that. 
• White granulated sugar – I use this in the muffin batter. This will get treated as a dry ingredient and add to the flour mixture. 
• Baking powder and baking soda– these are the leavening agents which help to make sure your muffins rise properly. They are NOT interchangeable. You want to make sure they are fresh- to test baking powder test a teaspoon in a little bit of hot water, to test baking soda test a teaspoon of it some acid (vinegar or lemon juice). If they bubble, they are good to go! 
• Salt – All baked goods need a little salt in them. It helps balance out the sweetness. Salt plays a huge role in baking that you can read about here. 
• Eggs – I always use large eggs when baking. And I also make sure they are at room temperature so they blend well and do not seize up my melted butter. To get your eggs to room temperature quickly, place them in a bowl of warm water for 10 minutes before using. 
• Buttermilk – I love using buttermilk in this recipe to make the muffins moist and keep great flavor! If you don’t have buttermilk on hand, you can make your own buttermilk. 
• Canola Oil – Oil is what makes this recipe come together quickly and keeps them super moist. Vegetable oil also works. 
• Vanilla extract – Nothing is better than some vanilla extract for flavor. I recommend always using pure vanilla extract!
• Strawberries– Aww yes the strawberries. Wouldn’t be a strawberry muffin without! This recipe takes about 2 cups strawberries (although I’ve been known to throw a few extra from time to time. I can’t help myself. I love me some fresh strawberries. 
• Chocolate chips – Of course you can leave these out. But why would you? I used semi-sweet chocolate chips, but miniature chips, chopped up dark chocolate, chunks, all work here. 

How To Make These Strawberry Chocolate Chip Muffins – Step By Step

Combine Your Dry Ingredients:

You want to start by whisking together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. 

It’s important that you measure your flour correctly. Over-measuring flour is one of the biggest mistakes bakers make. I always recommend using a digital scale and weighing your ingredients. It’s faster, and much more accurate! 

But if you do measure using measuring cups (aka by volume) then be sure to do it correctly. Spoon the flour into your cup and then level off. Do not pack it down in the cup. You can read How To Measure Flour.

Prepare The Mix-Ins

Now it might seem weird to do this after I’ve measured my dry ingredients, but there is a method to my madness I swear. Start by chopping up the strawberries. 

Measure out the chocolate chips. Then combine the two.

And then toss in the bowl a tablespoon or two of the dry ingredients. You want the strawberries and chocolate chips coated in flour because this will help them from sinking to the bottom of your muffin liners.

Read How To Keep Chocolate Chips From Sinking.

Combine The Wet Ingredients:

In a second mixing bowl, combine the egg, buttermilk, vanilla, and oil. Just simply whisk it together.

Pro Tip: Be sure your egg is room temperature so it’s easily incorporated. Place it in a bowl of warm water for 10 minutes before using. 

Combine The Dry And Wet Ingredients:

Next you want to combine the wet and dry ingredients. I like to create a well first by pushing the dry ingredients aside and then pouring the wet ingredients into the hole. 

And then just stir together using a spatula. 

Pro Tip: Be careful to NOT overmix. Overmixing will create a tough muffin. Stop mixing once the last of the flour has been incorporated.

Add The Mix-Ins

Last but not least, fold in the strawberries and chocolate chips…

Scoop And Bake:

At this point, you want to scoop the muffin batter into your prepared pans. I like to use a large spring-release scoop and fill the muffin liners right to the top. 

Muffins won’t sink like cupcakes, so it’s perfectly fine to fill them to the top. 

Tips and Tricks for making this strawberry muffin recipe

• Measure your flour correctly – Measuring your flour wrong is one reason why homemade muffins don’t come out fluffy and moist like they do as a bakery. The best way is to use a scale and measure by weight. I still love to measure by volume, as I am sure most American home bakers do. So if you do use your measuring cups, then be sure to first fluff up the flour. Then scoop with a spoon into the cup and then level off with a flat edge. For more on how and why to measure your flour you can read this post. 
• Prepare your pans first. You want to make sure to get those ready before you start measuring. I like to use liners for my muffins and then also spray the top of the pans with non-stick cooking spray. You don’t have to use liners, but then make sure the wells and the top of the tin are sprayed well. But you don’t want your batter sitting around while you get your pans ready, so do this first. 
• Do not overmix. Once you add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, you want to make sure to mix just until the flour is mixed in. If you keep mixing, then you activate the gluten protein in the flour which can make your muffins tough and chewy. And cause “tunneling” which are these long holes throughout your muffins. So. Do. Not. Overmix. Ok? Ok. 
• Test for doneness. It can be tough to tell if your muffins are done. I like to use a toothpick inserted into a muffin in the middle of the tin and look for moist crumbs clinging to the toothpick. If you see batter still then pop them into the oven for a few minutes. 
• Cool on a cooling rack. Once you have taken your muffins out of the oven you want to move them from a tin to a cooling rack. If you leave the muffins in the tin, then the heat from the tin will cause them to continue to bake possibly causing them to overbake. 

For more muffin making tips check out this post!