BLUEBERRY & ORANGE MUFFINS

My kids eat a lot of fruit.  3 kgs of grapes, 1kg of blueberries, 16 plums, 12 apples, 6 bananas, 4 pears, 2 pkts of strawberries and a couple of oranges – and that's just in a week!  The first thing people say (apart from our dentist) when you tell them is “you’re so lucky,” and I agree but it is so, so expensive.  And as much as they love fruit it has to be the freshest, crispiest, crunchiest fruit that you can buy,  so no bargain buys for me.  The problem I had this week was that a lot of the blueberries were a bit squishy and I have to admit that even I struggle with soft, squishy blueberries but at £4 a punnet I have to find a way to use them up.  I don’t necessarily want to turn them into a sugar and fat laden dessert just for the sake of using them up so the healthiest option for me is these muffins I found in Annie Bell's Baking Bible.  The kids still refuse to eat them because of the squishy blueberries but they are the perfect snack for me together with my much loved daily cup of coffee. There is no butter in them and I have used a blend of sugar and stevia to cut down the sugar content and of course my favourite ingredient of the moment is the delicious seeded spelt flour from Sharpham Park.  These muffins are not necessarily frugal if you have to go out and buy the ingredients but if like me you have some over ripe fruit to use up then it is preferable to throwing the fruit out. 

   These muffins are deliciously moist and stay fresh for a few days and like most muffins will freeze really well. 

 

 

Blueberry & Orange Muffins
 

For the printable version - click here

 

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 30 mins

Total time: 40 mins

 

Yield: 8 - 12 depending on size

 

Ingredients

 

• 80 ml extra virgin olive oil
• 180 ml orange juice, no bits (approx 2 large oranges)
• finely grated zest of 1 orange
• 2 medium eggs (I used 2 large eggs)
• 275 g plain flour (I used Sharpham Park Seeded Spelt Flour)
• 2 tsps baking powder
• 200 g golden caster sugar (I used 100g Tate & Lyle's Stevia & Sugar blend)
• 150 g fresh blueberries (I used 200g)

 

Cooking Directions

1. Preheat oven to 190C (170C fan).
2. Whisk the oil, orange juice, zest and eggs lightly in a bowl.
3. Add the flour, baking powder and sugar and stir until just combined.
4. Fold in two-thirds of the blueberries.
5. Spoon the mixture into your muffin tray, two-thirds full.
6. Scatter over the remaining blueberries and a little extra sugar and bake for 30 mins or until a skewer comes out clean.

 

As these muffins contain blueberries and have no butter in them they are perfect for A Kick at the Pantry Door's first Feel Good Challenge.

 

Recipe adapted from Annie Bell's Baking Bible   

Written by Angela Darroch    

BANANA MUFFINS

We all have recipes that we turn to time and time again.  The ones that never let us down, the guaranteed crowd pleasers, the ones that just make us feel good.  These banana muffins are one such recipe.  I hate to think how many I have made over the years.  They freeze beautifully so there is no excuse to not have some freshly made muffins on hand when those unexpected visitors pop in.  I normally let my bananas ripen until the skin is black and really soft.  They look terrible but have so much more flavor than their yellow and slightly under ripe partners.  If I am not ready to make the muffins I'll peel and mash them up and freeze the pulp until such time as I am ready to bake. 

 Today was such a grey, miserable day with the rain lashing down from early morning that I could think of nothing nicer than putting a fresh pot of coffee on to brew and having some fresh home cooked banana muffins to cheer us up.

 

For the printable version - click here

 

Prep time: 20 mins

Cook time: 25 mins

Total time: 45 mins

 

Yield: 12 (large)

 

 

Ingredients

• 240g plain flour
• 125g butter
• 250ml (1 cup) soft brown sugar
• 4 very ripe bananas (peeled and mashed)
• 2 large eggs
• 2ml (1/2 tsp) salt
• 5ml (1 tsp) bicarbonate of soda
• 3 tblsp water
• 7ml (1.5 tsp) baking powder

 

Cooking Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180 C (350 F).
2. Cream butter and sugar until light and creamy.
3. Stir in the mashed bananas and beat to combine thoroughly.
4. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, blending well.
5. Sift flour and salt onto mixture and stir well.
6. Dissolve bicarbonate of soda in water and stir into mixture.
7. Add baking powder and stir well.
8. Pour batter into muffin moulds and bake for 20 - 25 mins.
9. Cool in tin, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

 

Written by : Angela Darroch       

CLEMENTINE & ALMOND BUTTER CAKE

There is nothing light and airy about this cake.  It is rich, dense and buttery giving it a beautiful moist texture.  I can't imagine them ever drying out but to be honest they are never around long enough to find out.  I usually bake mine as small individual cakes so that I can freeze them but you could use a loaf tin or a normal cake tin.  You would just need to increase the cooking time to about 55 - 60 mins.

I was in two minds about whether to blog this recipe - not because it doesn't taste good but because I couldn't think how to make them look good in the pictures.  For me this is the hardest part of blogging as I am neither a photographer nor a food stylist.  Anyway - I decided that that wasn't a good enough reason to not share this recipe - so here are my very unglamourous but tasty clementine and almond cakes.

Prep time: 20 mins

Cook time: 30 mins

Total time: 50 mins

Yield: 8 large muffins

For the printable version - click here

Ingredients

• 2 clementines
• 175 g butter, softened
• 175 g caster sugar
• 3 large eggs, beaten
• 175 g self-raising flour
• 3 tblsp ground almonds
• 3 tblsp single cream

      Glaze and topping

• juice from 2 clementines
• 2 tblsp caster sugar

Cooking Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180 deg C (350 deg F).
2. Prepare muffin tin or if using a cake tin, grease and line the base with baking parchment. An 18cm/7 inch round tin is about right.
3. Using a fine grater, grate the rind from the two clementines and add to the caster sugar.
4. If you want to intensify the orange flavour a bit more - you can whizz the sugar and zest a couple of times in a food processor to release the oils but no harm done if you miss this step.
5. In a bowl, cream together the butter, sugar and clementine rind until pale and fluffy.
6. Gradually add the beaten eggs to the mixture, beating well after each addition.
7. Gently fold in the self-raising flour, followed by the ground almonds and the cream.
8. Spoon the mixture into the muffin cases or prepared tin.
9. Bake for 30 mins (muffin size) or 55 - 60 mins for a large cake, or until a fine skewer comes out clean.
10. Leave to cool slightly.
11. Meanwhile, make the glaze.
12. Put the clementine juice into a small saucepan with the caster sugar.
13. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
14. Brush the glaze over the cakes until it has been absorbed fully.

  
Written by : Angela Darroch