Step 1

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease two mini muffin pans.

Step 2

To make the strawberry puree, add about 1 cup of washed and hulled strawberries into a food processor. Add 1-2 tbsp of water and blend on high speed until strawberries are completely pureed. You will have more than a 1/4 cup of puree. You can use the rest for another recipe or for a smoothie.

Step 3

In a large bowl, add sugar and egg. Whisk until smooth. Add in flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon, vegetable oil, milk, vanilla, 1/4 cup strawberry puree. Whisk until batter is almost completely smooth. Very small lumps are okay. Add in the food coloring and whisk until completely combined into batter and batter becomes an even shade of light pink. If you are making these muffins without strawberry pieces on top, stir in 4 tbsp of finely chopped strawberries. If you are decorating the muffins with strawberries on top, you do not need to add the finely chopped strawberries.

Step 4

Spoon batter into greased muffin pan, filling them about 2/3 full. If you are decorating with strawberry pieces, gently place one on top of each muffin.

Step 5

Bake for about 14-15 minutes or until muffins are cooked. Allow muffins to cool a few minutes. Using a small and thin spatula, loosen the edges of the muffins to remove them from pan.

Step 6

If desired, coat tops of muffins in sugar.