Roasted Strawberry Muffins

June 16, 2024

Smile Beach Murder by Alicia Bessette is a contemporary mystery book set in the Outer Banks, North Carolina. This book follows Callie Padget, a former reporter, as she returns to her hometown after losing her job.

When Callie is laid off from her reporting job, she returns to her hometown of Cattail Island and lands a gig at the local bookstore—the same one where she found comfort after her mother died. In fact, the anniversary of her mother’s infamous death is approaching. Years ago, Teri Padget tumbled from the top of the lighthouse. As islanders are once again gossiping about the tragedy, devastating news strikes: the lighthouse has claimed another victim….

In Callie’s search for answers, she enlists the help of some beloved books and several new friends. But when another death rocks Cattail Island, Callie must face her fears alone. As she earns enemies in pursuit of the truth, Callie knows she will either uncover the killer or become a victim herself.

At one point in the book, Callie shares some grilled strawberry muffins with her employer and friend Antoinette as she explains her recent escapades while trying to uncover the truth about the victim’s death.

Next morning, I arrived early at the MotherVine. Antoinette had picked up grilled strawberry muffins from Cattail Café, made with fresh fruit from a mainland farm just across the sound. I’d already had breakfast—a kale smoothie—but the muffins’ buttery aroma convinced me to go for secondsies.
-Chapter 46, Smile Beach Murder by Alicia Bessette

This mystery was a great book to read while I was visiting my family in Virginia Beach, which is only a couple hours' drive away from the Outer Banks. While I was home, my parents and I went strawberry picking so I would have plenty of strawberries to use for these muffins. To make these muffins, I combined the recipe for roasted strawberries from Everyday Annie’s Roasted Strawberry Muffins with a modified version of the Vegan Vanilla-Mixed Berry Muffins from flour, too by Joanne Chang. I hope you enjoy these muffins as much as my mom and I did! (Also, thanks to my mom for accompanying me to the beach just after sunrise so we could take pictures of these muffins before I started my workday, and thanks to my dad for washing all of these strawberries for me!)

Roasted Strawberry Muffins

SERVINGS: 12-14 muffins

INGREDIENTS

ROASTED STRAWBERRIES

2 cups strawberries, rinsed, hulled, and quartered
½ tablespoon granulated sugar

ROASTED STRAWBERRY MUFFINS

2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
¾ cup granulated sugar
½ - ¾ cup plain non-dairy milk  (Note 1)
¾ cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon distilled white or cider vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
About 1 cup roasted strawberries


INSTRUCTIONS

ROASTED STRAWBERRIES

1. Preheat the oven to 400⁰F.
2. Spread the strawberries out on a lined baking pan. Sprinkle the sugar over the berries and toss gently to mix.
3. Roast the strawberries, stirring once or twice, for about 20-22 minutes until they are tender and have released most of their juices.
4. Strain the strawberries and reserve the juice. Set both the strawberries and juice aside.

ROASTED STRAWBERRY MUFFINS

1. Lower the oven temperature to 350⁰F. Line a muffin tin with paper liners or generously oil the muffin cups.
2. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, salt, and sugar.
3. Using a liquid measuring cup, combine the juice from the roasted strawberries with just enough milk to make 1 cup total of liquid.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk together the strawberry juice/milk mixture, vegetable oil, vinegar, and vanilla extract.
5. Make a well in the flour bowl and pour in the milk mixture.  Stir until well mixed.
6. Fold in the roasted strawberries.
7. Divide batter evenly into the prepared muffin tin cups, filling cups about ¾ full.
8. Bake for 25-30 minutes, rotating the muffin tin midway through the baking time, until the tops of the muffins are lightly browned and a cake tester inserted into the middle of a muffin comes out mostly clean with just a few crumbs clinging to it.
9. Remove the muffins from the oven and the muffin tin. Let cool on a wire rack before serving.

RECIPE NOTES

1. Regular dairy milk can be used instead of non-dairy milk.