Strawberry Buttermilk Muffins

A friend of mine went strawberry picking the other day and was sweet enough to share some of their bounty with me. I also happened to have a free quart of organic buttermilk in my fridge that had passed its sell-by date (by a day) and couldn't be sold. So, I whipped up some muffins. I need to figure out what to do with the rest of the buttermilk, but for now, here's the recipe:

2 1/4 C whole wheat pastry flour

1/2 C sugar

1 t baking soda

2 t baking powder

1/2 t salt

1/2 t ground nutmeg

1/2 t ground cinnamon

1/4 butter, melted

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 C buttermilk

1 t vanilla extract

1 C chopped fresh strawberries (or whatever fruit you have)

Grease a muffin pan and preheat the oven to 375 F.

Combine all dry ingredients and mix with a whisk. In a separate bowl, mix all the wet ingredients until very well combined. Pour the wet mix into the dry mix and fold -with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon- until almost all the flour has been incorporated. Add the fruit and gently fold until JUST incorporated. DO NOT OVERMIX. That is the leading cause of death of all homemade muffins. Your mix should JUST get to the point where all the flour is damp, but the batter is still plenty lumpy.

Scoop mix into muffin pan. This will make 12 regular-sized muffins. Bake for 18 minutes. They will be done when the top of the muffin is springy to a flat hand.

Let cool, then enjoy! Store in an air-tight container or bag at room temp.