Strawberry Cornmeal Muffins

Oh my, where has the last week and a half gone? I had no intention of neglecting my blog for so long - sorry readers! My husband and I went to Maryland last weekend for his sister's graduation from dental school. It was great seeing all of her hard work recognized and the next steps beginning as she and her husband are moving to CA. 

Now that we're back in NYC and the weather is heating up, I can't wait to get back to the farmer's market and take advantage of all the local, seasonal produce. It's been at least a month since I've been able to go so the long Memorial Day weekend will be the perfect opportunity to peruse the selection. When I last went to the market, I bought a 1.5 lb bag of finely ground cornmeal to make polenta as I've only had it a few times, but have never made it myself. It turned our really well - so creamy, salty from the parmesan cheese, and just a hint of sweetness from the caramelized onions. I made my own caramelized onions several days before I bought the polenta because I had almost a full onion in random containers in my fridge that I didn't want to waste. The pairing was just meant to be!

After making the polenta, it looked like I still had the entire bag of cornmeal left to use so I wanted to go sweet this time. I found a recipe for strawberry cornmeal muffins that sounds like a great combo of sweet and savory. I personally loooove cornbread so I figured these would have the great taste and consistency you'd expect, combined with the pops of moist, sweet strawberry throughout the muffins. 

I usually have strawberries in the freezer so I can make smoothies when a sweet craving hits, so luckily I was able to use these for the muffins. I just chopped them up a bit more, mixed them in with the batter, and added some on top of each. I already couldn't wait to eat one!

They turned out so well! The muffin tasted a lot like cornbread, as you would expect, and the roasted strawberries really moistened and added some sweetness. 

I brought some of the batch to work, since my husband and I can't (well, shouldn't) eat them all, and they were a success! Definitely a perfect complement to a cup of tea or coffee. I would make these again and try out different fillings, like blueberries or even something savory, like bacon or herbs. Yum!