Strawberry Oatmeal Muffins

Mix the oats and plain yogurt together: in a large bowl. Elise Bauer Prep then macerate strawberries with sugar and balsamic: Rinse and core the strawberries. Roughly chop the strawberries (I cut them in quarters lengthwise and then make one or two crosswise cuts). You should have about 1 1/2 cups of chopped strawberries. Place in a small bowl. Sprinkle with white sugar and balsamic vinegar. Gently stir to coat the strawberries with the sugar and vinegar. Elise Bauer Preheat oven, prep muffin tin: Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat oven to 400°F. Prepare a 12-well muffin tin by coating with butter or lining with paper muffin cups. Whisk together in a medium bowl the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, finely ground black pepper, and cinnamon Add the eggs, melted butter, brown sugar, and vanilla extract to the oatmeal and yogurt mixture: Stir until just incorporated. Elise Bauer Stir flour mixture into oatmeal mixture: Use a wooden spoon to gently stir the flour mixture into the oatmeal. Stir until just incorporated and the flour is moistened. Do not over-mix! Or your muffins will end up rubbery. The batter should be rather lumpy, not smooth. Elise Bauer Gently fold in the strawberries: including any of the sugary vinegary liquid the strawberries have been sitting in. Elise Bauer Spoon the batter evenly into the muffin tin wells or cups Elise Bauer Bake: at 400°F until the tops are browned and the muffin bounces back when you gently press on the top with your finger tips, about 20 minutes. A bamboo or metal skewer inserted into the center should come out clean. Let cool for a couple minutes in the muffin tin before removing to serve.