This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Fresh From Florida. All opinions are 100% mine.
When people ask me where I live in Miami, I always laugh a little before responding. You see, while I do live in Miami, I am about as far away from the “Miami” that people picture in their minds as one can get. While Downtown and South Beach are lovely – there’s no disputing that – there’s an entirely different side of the city that most people never see. We have a big agricultural area near where I live called the Redlands, and there are farms as far as the eye can see! You may be aware of this already; chances are that you’ve seen that Fresh From Florida logo on the produce in your local supermarket, or seen it mentioned on the menu of one of your favorite local restaurants.
We have all kinds of fruit farms, including Florida Strawberries fields where you can pick your own berries, buy them by the overflowing pint, or sit down and enjoy a freshly-made strawberry shake, and of course, these farms also distribute all over the country as well.
While the rest of the country is buried under sleet and snow, it’s strawberry season in Florida!
As people become more and more aware of the importance of eating a diet rich in nutritional foods like fresh berries and other produce, I am seeing local farmer’s markets pop up all over the city. If you live in Florida, chances are that you have your own favorite farmer’s market, or are accustomed to going out to U-Pick fields to gather your own fresh produce.
Is there really any better way to spend a Saturday than picking your own fresh berries while the sunshine beats down on your cheeks?
While there are plenty of benefits to having a stash of frozen fruits and veggies in the freezer at all times, eating fresh is just so much fun! When you work with nature’s production cycle, you benefit from your produce being fresher and tastier, making it easier to create a nutritionally-optimized diet for your family.
If you aren’t familiar with the produce we grow in Florida, you’re in for a fun lesson today! You can like Fresh From Florida on Facebook and follow Fresh From Florida on Twitter to keep up to date on what we’re growing, but for now, let’s talk about Florida Strawberries!!
I picked up some Florida Strawberries last week at our local Knaus Berry Farms, which has been around since before I was born. They’re a Miami institution, but they’re one of our best kept secrets! Their berries are so rich and flavorful, and I just love coming up with fun ways to serve them to my family.
I drew inspiration for these Hazelnut Filled Berries from this Stuffed Florida Strawberries recipe on the Fresh From Florida website. They’re really easy to make and the hint of hazelnut is such a fun addition to the berries! Think of this recipe as a cross between a cheesecake and a chocolate dipped berry!
Hazelnut Filled Florida Strawberries
Ingredients
1 quart of Florida Strawberries, hulled and cores scooped out
1 8 ounce package of Cream Cheese, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar
5 tablespoons Justine’s Hazelnut Butter (or you can use Nutella)
Directions
In a large bowl, beat together the cream cheese, powdered sugar and hazelnut butter until light and fluffy. Spoon into a Ziploc bag and seal, then cut a small hole in one of the corners. Use this as a pastry bag to squeeze the cream cheese mixture into the Florida strawberries, allowing a little overflow.
Sounds pretty easy, right? Is it easy – and completely delicious. What I love most about this recipe is that while it adds the delicious flavor of hazelnut, it doesn’t overpower the natural goodness of the berries. They are so sweet and flavorful on their own, you really don’t want to ruin that!
Look for the Fresh From Florida logo to make sure that your food selections are fresh, healthy and support your local community!
Hazelnut Cheescake Filled Fresh Florida Strawberries
Ingredients
- 1 quart of Florida Strawberries hulled and cores scooped out
- 1 8 ounce package of Cream Cheese softened
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 5 tablespoons Justine's Hazelnut Butter or you can use Nutella
Instructions
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In a large bowl, beat together the cream cheese, powdered sugar and hazelnut butter until light and fluffy. Spoon into a Ziploc bag and seal, then cut a small hole in one of the corners. Use this as a pastry bag to squeeze the cream cheese mixture into the Florida strawberries, allowing a little overflow.
These look amazing. I’m so jealous on how ripe and sweet these strawberries look. I would love to have some strawberries like that right about now.
I would love to be in Florida picking fresh strawberries! I love your awesome recipe filled with a Hazelnut filling! It looks so pretty and i bet it tastes delicious! I will have to try making this.
These look awesome, I wonder if these would be good for wine pairing, either way they are yummy, I bet they are so creamy.
Those sound divine! I definitely need to try those and not share with anyone else.
What a fabulous recipe! The strawberries look fabulous and I bet they taste amazing!
YUM!! Strawberries are finally coming down in price here so I’ve been buying them like crazy. I will definitely be making these hazelnut filled strawberries for snack!
These look delicious. I can’t wait for strawberries to be a little more plentiful in my area!
Those filled strawberries look beautiful and delicious! It’s definitely not the season for berries in Minnesota right now, but your post definitely makes me want some fresh strawberries.
That looks amazing! I love strawberries, and that filling is marvelous. Yum!
They look delicious! Can you send some to NY? Our strawberries are the best right around the first week of June. That seems so far away right now!
That looks delicious. Strawberries are one of those fruits that you can do almost anything with and it’s going to be great. Thanks!
Whoa, these look so good! I am going to have to try this. We all love Strawberries and adding this would be such a treat!
These strawberries look amazing. I would love to try them.
This looks really good. We always buy a flat of Strawberries this time of year. I am always looking for new recipes.
I have nutella in the pantry right now. This would be a perfect way to use it!
Such gorgeous strawberries! I’ll have to make some of this for my girls.
Yum, hazelnut in strawberries sounds so good. I’d love to have some fresh strawberries and make these!
Oh wow this looks amazing. I’ve made these but not with this filling. Looks so good.
Hazelnut and Strawberries don’t seem like they would be a very goof combination. I would just gobble up all those fresh strawberries though!
opps… Good* not goof.
YUM! This looks delicious, I will definitely have to try these soon!
Yummy. I love Hazelnut. We just got some great strawberries on our last shopping trip, perfect for stuffing. 🙂
Yum. I love strawberries and hazelnut so this would be totally something I could snack on! They look so good!
What delicious little bites! I love that Florida strawberries are in season right now
Oh that is a brilliant idea. I can almost taste the flavors.
Oh man, this sounds so delicious! I’d probably make a mess and eat most of it while trying to stuff them, but hey that’s ok.
I just picked up a pint of strawberries a few days ago and polished them off last night. This looks like a yummy snack and will pin it for future use.
These look absolutely amazing! Can’t wait to make some for myself.
Ooh. Now I want to make these. Just need to get the strawberries I have all the other ingredients.
These look so amazing. i will have to try making these this weekend for my family.
I would love to pick strawberries right now. I love chocolate covered ones.
Never thought of this recipe. looks delicious, my husband would love this little treat. We love Florida Strawberries!