Orange Strawberry Muffins

Insteads of eating the leftover strawberries out of the container, I have turned them into fairly healthy breakfast treats for OCT.
Thanks to the pureed strawberries, the batter was in a romantic pink shade before baking. However, the pink colour quickly faded after they were baked. OCT who is not fond of strawberry actually like this muffin.



Strawberry Orange Muffins
adapted from Cookinglight

1 1/4 cups halved strawberries
3 tablespoons butter or stick margarine, melted
2 teaspoons grated orange rind (I used meyer lemon peel)
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups sugar (used only 1 cup)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Cooking spray
2 teaspoons sugar

Preheat oven to 400°.
Combine first 4 ingredients in a blender, and process just until blended. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, 1 1/4 cups sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add strawberry mixture to flour mixture, stirring just until moist. Spoon batter into 12 muffin cups coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle with 2 teaspoons sugar. Bake at 400° for 20 minutes or until muffins spring back when touched lightly in center. Remove from pan immediately.

Yield: 1 dozen (serving size: 1 muffin)