Using Jams in Winter Baking: Strawberry Coconut Breakfast Muffins

My favorite recipes are the ones I can make without any special trips to the market.*

(*My favorite recipes are also those which require lovely planning and list making and special ingredient sourcing and involve the thrill of the magician illusionist's grand finale. But I contradict myself and digress.)

It's wintertime, and we're stocked to the hilt with preserved foods and bulk ingredients. Yet, despite my obsessions with late night canning and weekend milk runs, I am often challenged to make the best use of the stores we keep on hand before I run out of steam and resort to additional purchases.

I'm a working girl with an 8-5 routine, and I'll admit that I revel in the simple success of making up a Sunday evening batch of muffins for the coming week. These habits are the ones I hope to continue to cultivate.

Prompted by an extra stash of raw milk just begging to be used for baking and the need for a few easy breakfasts, I reached for my Sue Gregg Soups & Muffins cookbook (a helpful throwback from home school home-ec!) and scanned to find something that would work well with the ingredients I had on hand.

{ Sue Gregg's Strawberry Coconut Surprise Muffins }

Blend together and let stand for 30 minutes:
1 C. buttermilk (I used soured raw milk)
1 C. uncooked rolled oats

Blend into oat mixture:
1 egg
1/4 C. honey
3/4 C. shredded coconut, unsweetened
(I had sweetened on hand, oops!)

Blend together in separate bowl:
1 C. whole wheat flour (pastry flour preferred)
1-1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt

Blend dry ingredients into wet until just mixed.
Fill prepared muffin cups about half full, place in center of each
1 scant teaspoon of strawberry preserves
(I may have gone overboard on the "scant")

Add dab of remaining dough to cover preserves in each muffin.
Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

Yes, there is a certain thrill to cooking with blackberry poison oak honey.
(Thank you to Andrea for sourcing our terrific local raw honey from Meadowlark Farm in Roseburg, OR.)

And with that ~ Sunday night's success:

a) a ready-to-go breakfast for the upcoming week of busy-ness
b) quality ingredients (and a delicious way to use June's sweet strawberry jam)
c) a cheaper price tag than the local cafe's jammers (delicious though they may be)
d) a tasty something to share with our kind neighbors (who surprised us with a knock on the door and fresh homemade enchiladas!)

If you're feeling inspired, here's another great muffin recipe I tried recently: Whole Wheat Spicy Carrot Coconut Muffins. I made mine with milk-soaked flour, dried cranberries, and toasted cashews, and they were lovely. Even Ted (the resister of all vegetable-filled baked goods) asked for seconds...

~Bethany