I have a gorgeous and generous group of friends … and some years ago one such friend shared with me her fabulous muffin recipe. To be honest I had misplaced the recipe, but a couple of weeks ago whilst doing a “tidy up” of my “To Do” recipes it fell out into my hands … and I was smitten.
In the past couple of weeks I have made the muffins three times, slightly changing the recipe each time to make the process as simple as possible, and using berries and yoghurt which I love and are ingredients that are easy to have on hand. If using frozen berries (which I did) then you will find the cooking time will increase slightly by about 5 minutes.
If you would like to use apples or pears you can certainly do that … use the same weight of fresh fruit (250g) cut into small cubes about the size of a berry/pea so that it can be easily distributed into the mix. You could also add some chopped chocolate to the mix (white chocolate callets with the berries, and dark chocolate callets with the pears) which would be delicious.
When making fruit muffins I like to place a small amount of batter into the liner base as this helps to keep the fruit “on top” of the muffin as opposed to dropping too quickly to the bottom.
As I had some Plum Syrup (see here) and labne (see here) in the fridge I couldn’t help but serve these alongside the muffins, but a dollop of Greek yoghurt with a few fresh berries would be a fabulous alternative too.
The recipe gives 11 decent sized muffins, but depending on the liners you use you may get 12 out of the mix … just be aware not to overfill the muffins as you will get an “overflow” in the oven as they do rise quite a bit.
The recipe gives 11 decent sized muffins, but depending on the liners you use you may get 12 out of the mix ... just be aware not to overfill the muffins as you will get an "overflow" in the oven as they do rise quite a bit.
- 300g self raising flour
- 220g raw caster sugar, or plain caster sugar
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp sea salt flakes, or ½ tsp fine sea salt
- 250g full fat yoghurt
- 2 x 60g eggs, room temperature
- 125g butter, melted
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
- 125g blueberries, fresh or frozen
- 125g raspberries, fresh or frozen
- Preheat oven to 180 degrees fan forced, and arrange rack into middle of oven
- Melt your butter, and also weigh out your berries, and have them both ready
- Line muffin tray with liners and put aside (depending on your additions you will have either 11 or 12 muffins … it is important not to overfill the liners or you may have an overflow when baking)
- Place dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl and use a whisk to stir together
- Place wet ingredients into a separate bowl and use the same whisk to blend together
- Add wet mix to dry mix and use a large metal spoon to lightly mix together ... do not overbeat … if there is a little dry mix showing that is ok
- Place a small amount of mixture (about a tablespoon) into the base of each liner, then use a teaspoon to spread it out a little … doesn’t need to completely cover the base
- Add berries to the rest of the mixture in the bowl and mix lightly together … do not overmix or you will start to break down the berries too much
- Divide the mix evenly between the muffin cases (I use an ice-cream scoop to do this)
- Place muffin tray into oven and bake for 25 minutes, test to see how they are going, then if necessary add another 5 minutes, or bake until a skewer inserted into centre comes out clean (if using frozen berries it will take a little longer … with frozen berries it takes 35 minutes in my oven)
- Remove from oven and allow muffins to rest for at least 15 minutes before serving
I made these today with some coconut yoghurt that was close to its use-by date. They are absolutely delicious and have a beautiful light and fluffy texture. I love the trick of putting some batter in the pans first – it definitely kept the berries from all sinking to the bottom. I used a standard sized 12 muffin pan, and the recipe made 15 muffins for me.