Easy Strawberry Almond Muffins with a Lemon Thyme Sugar Topping

Little buds are popping up in my garden and the sounds of the birds wake me up in the morning. Spring is my most favorite time of year! I got a beautiful package of strawberries at the store and when I saw the thyme coming up in my garden, I decided to combine the two into these easy muffins that have just a hint of lemon and thyme and a richness from the almond flour. You could easily make these completely gluten free by using a gf flour blend.

Ingredients:

muffin cups or papers

1/4 cup unsalted butter, ghee, or vegan butter

1 cup buttermilk (or 1 cup non-dairy milk plus 1 tsp. cider vinegar)

1/4 cup light brown sugar

1/4 cup honey

2 large eggs, room temp.

1 cup almond flour

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour (or whole wheat, oat, or gluten-free blend)

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. Kosher salt

1 1/2 cups chopped strawberries

Sugar Almond Topping (optional but so good ):

1/4 cup coarse sugar

zest of 1 lemon

a few sprigs of thyme, leaves removed from stems (optional)

1 tbs. sliced almonds

Method of Preparation:

1. Line 15 muffin tins with papers and preheat oven to 350 F.

2. In a small saucepan, melt the butter over low heat and set aside to cool. (you can also use a microwave oven)

3. In a small bowl, mix the chopped strawberries with 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

4. In a large bowl whisk together the buttermilk, brown sugar, honey, eggs and melted butter until well blended.

5. In a separate bowl, whisk together the almond flour and 1 cup all-purpose flour. Add the baking soda, baking powder and salt.

6. In a small bowl mix rub the thyme leaves and lemon zest into the sugar. Add the sliced almonds.

7. Using a spatula, mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until almost combined. Fold in the strawberries coated in flour.

8. Spoon batter muffin cups (I use a 1/4 cup as my scoop) filling them 3/4 of the way full. Top each muffin with the lemon thyme sugar.

9. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the muffin comes out clean.