Strawberry Cantaloupe Muffins – a strawberry muffin with cantaloupe, you say? Can I do that? Why yes. Yes, you can!
Strawberry Cantaloupe Muffins
By Sue Lau
It’s the end of the month and of course you know that means it’s time for #MuffinMonday! June is upon us!
I am already seeing lots of cantaloupe in the stores. Now, I don’t usually buy it during off season. I am funny about my melons. For example, I like to sniff the belly button end and see if it has any aroma. If it does, that’s a good sign. Not that ones without scent can’t come around, because they sometimes do. But any that have a musty aroma I set right back down, along with any that have visible mold or soft indentations. In high summer when the Athena melons arrive, some as huge as watermelons, you can smell them long before you get to the display.
And if you’re lucky, someone will have a roadside farm stand selling off their melons (and tomatoes!) and you just might get to taste one still warm from sunning in the field. One time Bill, Mom and I were driving back home through Millstadt Illinois outside of Belleville when we came across a stand. Those were so memorably good, they tasted of pure honey. It’s hard to find a stand like that anymore unless I manage to get out of the city. And the rural areas between Cincinnati and Dayton are fast becoming urban sprawl. With produce sold by entrepreneurs going by the wayside.
But it’s not like we don’t get our share of melon. And besides cutting them up, you have to be a little creative to find other uses. I’ll post more as the season goes on, but for right now I want to share with you this recipe for strawberry cantaloupe muffins. It’s my recipe- one I thought about a little bit since there aren’t many melon recipes around.
I wanted to bake with it but you know, most of the liquid in a muffin is the milk. There can be some moisture from fruit, but you don’t want it soggy. Then I had a great idea: why not puree the cantaloupe but add the milk in as powder (I’d need it to be a conditioner anyway) and let the powder make it’s own cantaloupe milk? But I wanted to add something else to it. I thought of dried blueberries at the last minute but unfortunately I already used up my stash. However, I still had a couple bags of freeze-dried strawberries which I like to bake with and sometimes put on top of oatmeal or cereal. The added plus is that they don’t add the kind of moisture fresh berries would, making the muffins heavy.
The muffins work very well! I am pleased with these right off the bat. I guess we can call that a home run. Now, I haven’t decided yet what I’ll post tomorrow or Wednesday as I haven’t penciled those in. But I do plan to post something on each of those days, and then post my recipe for Pink Lemonade cookies on Thursday with the #FilltheCookieJar blogging group. Make sure you check back to see!
~Sue
Strawberry Cantaloupe Muffins
Ingredients:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup nonfat powdered dry milk
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup cantaloupe puree
- 1/4 cup melted butter, at room temperature
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1-1/2 cups freeze-dried strawberries, chopped
- 1 tablespoon coarse sparkling sugar
Method:
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- Cut cantaloupe and scoop out seeds; peel and chop, then puree enough fruit to yield one cup puree in a food processor or blender.
- Stir together the flour, baking powder, sugar, dry milk, salt and cinnamon in a mixing bowl.
- Whisk together the egg, cantaloupe puree, cooled melted butter, honey and vanilla extract.
- Gently stir wet ingredients into the flour until blended, then one cup of the chopped freeze-dried strawberries.
- Place paper liners in 1-2 muffin pans and fill cups 3/4 full with batter.
- Sprinkle tops with remaining chopped freeze-dried strawberries and coarse sugar.
- Bake muffins for 14-16 minutes or until a toothpick can be inserted and removed cleanly.
- Allow muffins to cool in the pans for 5 minutes, then turn out to finish cooling on a wire rack.
From the kitchen of palatablepastime.com
- Cheesy Zucchini and Basil Muffins from Karen’s Kitchen Stories
- Coconut Raisin Muffins from Passion Kneaded
- Corn Dog Bites from A Day in the Life on the Farm
- Crawfish Pie Muffins from Food Lust People Love
- Garlic Scape & Ricotta Muffins from Farm Fresh Feasts
- Strawberry Cantaloupe Muffins from Palatable Pastime
#MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins. You can see all our of lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board.
Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday, can be found on our home page.
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I never thought of using cantaloupe in baked goods. This is brilliant!
Great idea to puree the cantaloupe, Sue. Those muffins look perfect!
I love using the pureed cantaloup as the “water” for the powdered milk. I often use powdered buttermilk in muffins but have not gotten creative like this with the liquid!
I have to admit that when I saw your recipe, I had to wonder how you added the cantaloupe. Great idea to puree it.