“Mommy, I want to make something with you!”
The words echoed through the kitchen and melted my heart. It had been weeks since I had allowed my toddler into the kitchen with me.
With my husband’s decision to quit his job, our routines had been thrown off. We were finding our new normal, and the fun baking activities got put on the back burner.
Now my 3-year-old wanted to make something with Mommy.
He didn’t care what we made. He just wanted to be with me. And honestly? I wanted to be with him too.
I took a peek inside the pantry and found a little bit of flour and sugar. In the refrigerator, we had the bottom of a tub of yogurt, one egg, some over-ripe strawberries, and some chia seeds.
Additionally, I found cupcake liners leftover from his third birthday party, and just like that the idea for Strawberry Chia Muffins was conceived.
“Okay, buddy, we can do this! Let’s make breakfast cupcakes!”
“It not breakfast time though, Mommy?!”
“Well, they aren’t really cupcakes anyway. So do you want to make Strawberry Chia Muffins?”
“Ohhhh, yes I do!!”
These Strawberry Chia Muffins were amazing.
I’m a firm believer that baking needs love, and lots of it. So if you’re looking for a healthy snack for your toddler, or “breakfast cupcakes,” then these are for you!
Strawberry Chia Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 cups flour (whole wheat works well)
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 egg
- 3/4 to 1 scant cup of sugar (depends on your strawberry ripeness)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/3 cup coconut oil, melted and cooled
- 1 1/2 cups diced strawberries
- 1 cup plain yogurt
- 1/4 cup milk (I used almond milk)
- 1 heaping tablespoon chia seeds
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin pans with liners or grease generously with butter or coconut oil.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
- In a large bowl, mix together the egg and sugar until well-blended. Then gradually stir in the coconut oil. Mix well. Now stir in the plain yogurt.
- Slowly mix the dry and wet ingredients. Blend in milk until just combined. If your batter is too thick, you can add a little extra milk, but be careful to not add too much.
- Gently fold in strawberries, reserving 1/4 to 1/2 cup for adding to top of muffins.
- Pour (or scoop with a spoon) your batter into your muffin cups (approximately 12-15 muffins). Sprinkle the remaining strawberries on top.
- Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in your preheated oven. Bake until your muffins are golden brown or a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Allow muffins to cool in pan for a couple of minutes; then transfer to cooling rack to finish cooling completely. Of course, if you can wait that long ... We dug in right away.
Who doesn’t love a yummy warm muffin breakfast cupcake?
Can you sub the coconut oil? My daughter’s allergic to coconut.
I used butter instead of coconut oil and they turned out amazing!
Do you add the chia seeds in with the dry ingredients? I haven’t used chia seeds yet so just wanted to make sure I knew what I was doing.