Jelly Surprise Muffins

I love muffins. My mom made muffins quite a bit during my growing-up years. We ate them for breakfast but also for snacks. Yesterday, I had a hankering for my favorite muffins.

They look pretty average, right? Wait until you bite into one.

Jelly! Yum!

The jelly center is baked right into these little beauties. My favorite is strawberry jam, followed closely by seedless raspberry. You can use whatever jam or jelly tickles your fancy.

Jelly Surprise Muffins
Recipe by Sara (stuff-by-sara.blogspot.com)

2 cups flour
¼ cup sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
¾ tsp salt
1 beaten egg
1 cup milk
½ cup oil
12 tsp jelly, jam, or marmalade

Preheat your oven to 350º F. Prepare your muffin pans by greasing them or lining each cup with paper liners.

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, mix egg, milk, and oil. Make a well in the center of the dry mixture, and pour in the wet ingredients. Mix until just combined. Be careful not to over mix, since that can give you tough muffins instead of the tender, delicious texture we're after.

Gently spoon batter into each muffin cup until it is about 1/2 full. Reserve the other half of the batter. Top each muffin with 1 tsp jelly or jam. Cover with remaining batter.

Bake at 350º for 20-25 minutes. Makes 12 muffins.

If you eat these little cuties warm, be careful of their jelly centers. They will be hot, so don't burn yourself!