Red Berry and White Chocolate Muffins

These lovely muffins are from Make Bake Love, a book I have baked and enjoyed lots of recipes from. Although as I've said previously there seems to be quite a few typos and the baking times are off. For example these muffins needed extra time in the oven as they weren't golden enough after 20 minutes. Despite that minor glitch these muffins were divine and I love the idea of using frozen berries as they don't break up while mixing into the batter. They went down very well with hubby and didn't last long!

Red Berry and White Chocolate Muffins

Makes 12 small muffins


Ingredients
225g plain flour
1tbsp baking powder
75g caster sugar
1 egg
150ml milk
40ml sunflower oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
160g frozen red berries
70g white chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 190oC/170oC fan. Line a 12-hole muffin tin with paper cases.

Sieve the flour and baking powder together in a bowl, then stir in the sugar.

Whisk the egg, milk, oil and vanilla together in a jug. Pour into the dry ingredients and mix gently. Fold in the berries and the chocolate chips.

Use an ice cream scoop or spoon to divide the batter evenly amongst the muffin cases. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until golden and risen. Remove the muffins from the tin and allow to cool on a rack.

Blueberry Muffins

This recipe hails from the newest addition to my cookbook collection which arrived today, Make Bake Love by Lily Higgins. It has a wonderful collection of delicious baked treats and there are so many recipes I want to try in the coming weeks, so watch this space. The recipes are all pretty straight-forward and do not require 100 ingredients, I'm all for keeping it simple most days. Blueberry muffins are an all-time classic and perfect for breakfast, lunch boxes or to enjoy with your afternoon cup of tea! I just happened to buy some blueberries in M&S yesterday that were marked down and was very pleased when I came across this recipe in the book. These muffins are moist and bursting with flavour but not overly sweet.

Blueberry Muffins

Makes 12

Ingredients
225g plain flour
1 tbsp baking powder
75g Demerara sugar
1 egg
150ml milk
40ml sunflower oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
160g blueberries

Preheat the oven to 190oC/fan 170oC. Line a 12-hole muffin tin with muffin cases.

Sieve the flour and baking powder together in a bowl, then stir in the sugar.

Whisk the egg, milk, oil and vanilla together in a jug. Pour into the dry ingredients and mix gently. Fold in the blueberries.

Use an ice cream scoop or spoon to divide the batter evenly amongst the muffin cases. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until golden and risen. Remove the muffins from the tin and cool on a rack.

Cranberry and Chocolate Chip Muffins

The Christmas build-up has begun and it's my favourite time of the year. I just love everything about Christmas and the first glimmer begins in October with the baking of my Christmas cake, pudding and mincemeat. From here in all my bakes will be Christmas themed, and I have a list of those goodies in mind and can't wait. I decided to start off with these Cranberry and Chocolate Chip Muffins, and for me cranberries scream Christmas! These fluffy and tender muffins studded with chocolate chips and tart cranberries are a match made in heaven! They taste fabulous and will definitely feature again during the month of Christmas.



Cranberry and Chocolate Chip Muffins

Ingredients
300g self raising flour, sifted
170g caster sugar (white or golden)
170g butter, melted and cooled a little
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
200ml milk
100g chocolate chips, dark or milk
100g dried cranberries

Preheat the oven to 200C/gas 6. Place 12 paper liners in a muffin tin.

Sift flour and mix dry ingredients (flour and sugar) in a bowl.

Beat eggs and milk and vanilla in a jug.

Pour the eggs and milk into the dry ingredients, mix a little and then add the butter and mix briefly.

Add the cranberries and chocolate chips and mix again.

Divide between the cases.

Bake for around 25-30 minutes until golden brown and a cake tester inserted comes out clean.

Cool on a wire rack.

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Chocolate Chocolate-Chip Muffins

My hubby has been in Madrid on business for a week but his back tonight, yay, I've missed him! He did however have 2 days free and took a short flight to Alicante to visit my parents, sister and nephew. I was sad that I couldn't be there too but I was happy he got to see them all and have a nice time. This morning I decided to do some baking for my hubby's return and made these Chocolate Chocolate-Chip Muffins from Nigella Lawson's cookbook Feast. These double chocolate muffins with their light and fluffy sponge are very yummy and will no doubt be a hit!

Chocolate Chocolate-Chip Muffins

Ingredients

250g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
2 tbsp best quality cocoa powder
175g caster sugar
150g dark chocolate chips, extra for sprinkling
250ml milk
90ml vegetable oil
1 large egg
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 200oC/180oC fan oven/Gas mark 4. Put the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa, sugar and chocolate chips into a large bowl and mix well.

Pour all the liquid ingredients into a measuring jug and mix well. Mix the dry and wet ingredients together with slow and gentle strokes. Stop stirring once the last traces of flour disappear. Do not overmix. A lumpy batter will ensure the muffins stay moist and fluffy.

Spoon the batter into paper muffin cases. Sprinkle with extra chocolate chips on top and bake for 20 minutes or until the muffins are dark, risen and springy.

Apple and Cinnamon Muffins

Did you all have a lovely weekend? My weekend was nice but busy around the house. Dare I mention it but with Christmas around the corner I like to give the house a good de-cluttering and sort out before the madness begins. Then I have free time to bake, cook and enjoy the festive season; of course the daily housework will always be there! So our weekend kicked off the start of our autumn clean up project. I did however manage to find some time to get into my kitchen for a spot of baking and baked these wonderful Apple and Cinnamon Muffins from Nigella Kitchen. The smell of these muffins while baking was divine and they reminded me of all the wonderful xmas scents to come. As I expected these muffins were beautifully moist from the apple chunks and had so much flavour and texture. Hubby and I both agreed these muffins are definitely a must bake but you should seriously try them served as a pudding with lashings of custard, we did!

Apple and Cinnamon Muffins

Makes 12 (I ended up with 18)

Ingredients
2 eating apples
250g plain flour (or spelt flour)
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp ground cinnamon
125g light brown sugar, plus 4 tsp for sprinkling
125ml honey
60ml runny natural yoghurt
125ml flavourless vegetable oil
2 eggs
75g natural (unblanched) almonds

Preheat the oven to 200oC/180oC fan oven/gas mark 6 and line your muffin tin with papers.

Peel and core the apples, then chop into small dice (about 1cm) and put them to one side.

Measure the flour, baking powder and 1 tsp of the ground cinnamon into a bowl.

Whisk together the 125g brown sugar, the honey, yoghurt, vegetable oil and eggs in another bowl or jug.

Chop the almonds roughly and add half of them to the flour mixture, and put the other half into a small bowl with the second tsp of ground cinnamon and the 4 extra tsp brown sugar. This will make the topping for the muffins.

Now fold the wet ingredients into the dry. Add the chopped apple, and stir to combine but don’t over mix.

Spoon this bumpy batter into the muffin papers, then sprinkle the rubbly topping mixture over them.

Pop the tin into the prepared oven, and bake for about 20 minutes, by which time they will have risen and become golden.

Take the tin out of the oven and let it stand for about 5 minutes before gingerly taking out the muffins and placing them on a wire cooling rack.

Chocolate Banana Muffins

As promised here is another instalment from Nigella Kitchen. Over the weekend my son and his girlfriend came to stay, as predicted the cookies were a big hit and didn’t last long. On Sunday morning I woke up early to bake these quick Chocolate Banana Muffins for the greedy cookie monsters, the perfect excuse to bake something else from my lovely new cookbook. These dark and moist muffins are at their best straight out of the oven while they are still warm for a perfect weekend breakfast indulgence!

Chocolate Banana Muffins

Makes 12

Ingredients
3 ripe or overripe bananas
125ml vegetable oil
2 eggs
100g soft light brown sugar
225g plain flour
3 x 15ml tablespoons best-quality cocoa powder, sifted
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

Preheat the oven to 200oC/fan 180oC/gas mark 6 and line a muffin tin with muffin cases. Mash the bananas by hand or with a freestanding mixer.

Still beating and mashing, add the oil followed by the eggs and sugar.

Mix the flour, cocoa powder and bicarbonate of soda together and add this mixture, beating gently, to the banana mixture, then spoon it into the prepared muffin cases.

Bake in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes, by which time the muffins should be dark, rounded and peeking proudly out of their cases. Allow to cool slightly in their tin before removing to a wire rack.

Pic of my son Jake and his girlfriend Sophie aka the cookie monsters!

Banana, Peanut Butter & Milk Chocolate Chip Muffins

I’ve done these muffins many times before and they are my quick and easy never-fail recipe when I need to use up ripe bananas. This weekend has been a wet one but I’ve enjoyed a spot of baking and I couldn’t pass up the chance to use my gorgeous new pastel silicone star and heart cases which I purchased last month at John Lewis. I’d read great reviews on silicone cases and they really lived up to their reputation, the only down side being I now want to buy more!The cases really helped the muffins retain the heart & star shapes and I love how cute they turned out. For those of you who have yet to try silicone cases, I say go out and buy them, you won’t be disappointed.

Banana, Peanut Butter & Milk Chocolate Chip Muffins

Ingredients
3 very ripe bananas
125ml vegetable oil
2 eggs
250g plain flour
100g caster sugar
½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
100g peanut butter chips
100g milk chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 200ºC/180ºC fan oven/gas mark 6 and line a 12-bun muffin tin with muffin papers.

Mash the bananas and set aside for a moment. Pour the oil into a jug and beat in the eggs. Put the flour, sugar, bicarbonate of soda and baking powder into a large bowl and mix in the beaten-egg-and-oil mixture, followed by the mashed bananas. Fold in the peanut butter and milk choc chips and then place equal quantities in the prepared muffin tin and bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Cool in the tin for 5 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack

Banana and Apple Cinnamon Muffins

I can’t believe I am moving next week and I’m still baking away. All my baking tins have been packed away in boxes but I made sure I left out 1 muffin tin and an extra mixing bowl. I think baking has been a therapeutic way for me in dealing with the stress of the move looming. The cake tin is yet again empty; those Chocolate Guinness cupcakes were too good to last. So I decided to make use of some bananas and apples in my fruit bowl and make up these quick and easy muffins. This is originally a recipe for banana muffins that I have done many times before. However this time I thought I’d throw some chopped apple into the mix. The apple works perfectly with this recipe, providing you with a moist sponge with nuggets of succulent juicy apple throughout. Perfect for snacking at any time of the day! At the bottom of this post I've added a pic I took lastnight of my gorgeous cat Madison, here he is laying on his blanket on his back and what I can only imagine is dreaming of being supercat, his tooooo cute!

Banana and Apple Cinnamon Muffins

Ingredients
3 very ripe bananas
125ml vegetable oil
2 eggs
250g plain flour
100g caster sugar
½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon cinnamon
2 eating apples, cored, peeled and cubed

Preheat the oven to 200ºC/180ºC fan oven/gas mark 6 and line a 12-bun muffin tin with muffin papers.

Mash the bananas and set aside for a moment. Pour the oil into a jug and beat in the eggs. Put the flour, sugar, bicarbonate of soda and baking powder and cinnamon into a large bowl and mix in the beaten-egg-and-oil mixture, followed by the mashed bananas. Fold in the chopped apples and then place equal quantities in the prepared muffin tin and bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Cool in the tin for 5 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack.

Pear and Chocolate Muffins

It seems I am on a pear kick at the moment. I was asked by my lovely hubby if I could bake something yummy to provide towards the buffet after a badminton match he is playing this evening. Of course I jumped at the chance as I'm always happy to have an excuse to bake and it's always a great satisfaction when hubby comes home and tells me what a hit my goodies were.
I've not been food shopping this week so had to make use of what I had available, so I decided to use up the pears in my fruit bowl and make these Pear and Chocolate Muffins. I love this combination of flavours, the chocolate compliments the sweetness of the pears wonderfully! I am sure these are going to be a hit with the players and there won't be a crumb left going on the bakes I've provided for previous matches!

Pear and Chocolate Muffins

250g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
170g golden caster sugar
1 large egg
240ml milk
75g unsalted butter, melted
3 small pears, peeled and cubed
125g dark chocolate bar (chopped) or chocolate chips

Measure out all dry ingredients into a bowl together: plain flour, baking powder, chocolate and golden caster sugar.
Melt the butter and leave to cool down, once cooled combine with the milk and egg. Then add wet mixture to dry ingredients and then stir in pears. Fill each muffin case with the mixture and bake in a pre-heated oven to 180°C (356°F) for 25-30 minutes until golden brown.

Pear and Ginger Muffins

Hi all, how have you all been? I've been absent from my blog for too long but life as it sometimes does took over. I can't beleive how long it's been since I last blogged, although I have been baking along the way. If I'm honest I lost my blogging mojo when sadly my kitten Ollie passed away last August but I'm ready and raring to get back to my poor neglected blog and bake lots of yummy goodies. I baked these Pear and Ginger muffins a while back and they were a recipe I couldn't wait to try. I've baked many variety of muffins but never a recipe with pear. The pear and ginger combo sounded too good to pass up and they couldn't have been more of a hit with my boys and I. The pear keeps the muffin moist and the ginger permeates everything. These are perfect for breakfast or snacking during the day.

Pear and Ginger Muffins

Makes 12

Ingredients
250g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
150g caster sugar
75g light brown sugar, plus ½ tsp per muffin for sprinkling
1 tsp ground ginger
1 x 142ml pot sour cream
125ml vegetable oil
1 x 15ml tbsp honey
2 eggs (large)
1 large pear such as a Comice (or other fruit to give you about 300g in weight), peeled, cored and cut into 5mm dice

Preheat the oven to 200°C/Gas 6 and line a 12-bun muffin tin with muffin papers.

Measure into a bowl the flour, baking powder, caster sugar, 75g of brown sugar and the ground ginger.

In a large measuring jug, whisk together the sour cream, oil, honey and eggs and then fold into the dry ingredients.

Lastly, mix in the diced pear, and divide the batter evenly between the muffin cases.

Sprinkle each one with ½ tsp of brown sugar and bake for 20 minutes. Remove to a cooling rack. Best eaten while still a little warm.

Jammy Doughnut Muffins~Sweet and Simple Bake!

I present this month's offering for Sweet and Simple Bakes. I've not done much baking in the last couple of weeks but I didn't want to let down Rosie and all the hard work she's done over the last couple of month's, plus getting back in the kitchen was a pleasant distraction. My family definitely appreciated this return to baking and these muffins were a big hit. They are super easy to make and in the words of my family, "these are the best kind of doughnuts in muffin form"! I will certainly be making them again. Please pop over to Sweet and Simple Bakes to view more yummy entries!

Jammy Doughnut Muffins

Makes 12

Ingredients

275g (10 oz) plain (all-purpose) flour

3 tsp baking powder

Pinch salt

100g (4 oz) caster (superfine) sugar

2 eggs

200ml (7 fl oz) milk

75g (3 oz) unsalted (sweet) butter, melted and cooled

1 tsp vanilla extract

12 tsp strawberry or raspberry jam

For The Toping

100g (4 oz) unsalted (sweet) butter

150g (5 oz) granulated sugar

½ tsp ground cinnamon (optional)

You will need 12 hole muffin tin lined with paper cases.

Method

Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F/Gas mark 5.

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a large mixing bowl, and stir through the sugar. In large jug, lightly beat the eggs then add the milk, cooled butter and vanilla extract and beat together. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients stir gently until just combined. (Do not over mix, its fine to have a few lumps in the mixture.) Spoon half the muffin mixture into the base of each paper case. Top each muffin with a teaspoon of jam. Now equally between each paper case, top with the remaining muffin mixture. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 – 20 minutes until well risen, golden and firm to the touch.

For The Topping: melt the butter in a saucepan over a low heat. Spread the granulated sugar in a wide, shallow bowl with the cinnamon if using. When the muffins are baked, leave in the tin for 5 minutes. Dip the tops of the muffins in the melted butter and then roll in the sugar. You can serve these muffins warm or cold; however, I do prefer to eat them whilst warm.

Banana Strawberry and White Chocolate Muffins

This is my all time favourite muffin recipe, I just love how quick and easy these muffins are to make up. The recipe is very flexible and you can add all types of chocolate chips, fruit or whatever your taste buds desire. On this occasion I made use of some strawberries I had in the fridge and thought the combination of banana, strawberry and white chocolate would be utterly luscious. I definitely hit a winner with this combo! These muffins deliver a moist sweet sponge, with the delightful blend of mashed banana and studded through with bite-sized strawberry chunks and white chocolate chips. A match made in heaven!

Banana Strawberry and White Chocolate Muffins

Ingredients

3 very ripe bananas

125ml vegetable oil

2 eggs

250g plain flour

100g caster sugar

½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1 teaspoon baking powder
300g strawberries hulled and chopped into bite size chunks
150g white chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 200ºC/180ºC fan oven/gas mark 6 and line a 12-bun muffin tin with muffin papers.

Mash the bananas and set aside for a moment. Pour the oil into a jug and beat in the eggs.Put the flour, sugar, bicarbonate of soda and baking powder into a large bowl and mix in the beaten-egg-and-oil mixture, followed by the mashed bananas. Fold in the strawberries and the white chocolate chips, then place equal quantities in the prepared muffin tin and bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Cool in the tin for 5 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack.

Vanilla Fudgies to celebrate Ollie's 1st Birthday!!

Today my gorgeous Ollie celebrated his 1st birthday, a day we didn’t think he would see! Many of my followers will know that back in February Ollie was diagnosed with FIP (Feline Infectious Peritonitis), with the diagnosis being bleak for him. Despite the vet not giving him much time, he has defied the odds and is doing well. He does have his bad days where it’s a struggle to eat and those days are hard for me to get through. Ollie having his 1st birthday gives me hope for his future but we take each day as a blessing, he's my little fighter!! I couldn’t go today without marking this special occasion and incorporating my other love…baking! I choose these Vanilla Fudgies as the colouring and their name remind me of Ollie and his distinctive cream colour. Fudge was one of the names in my top five list before we settled on Ollie. The muffins were super easy to make, with the chopping of the fudge being the only time-consuming task. These are light and fluffy, with a lovely vanilla flavour studded with melted nuggets of glorious golden fudge. Eat these while they’re still warm to really enjoy the squidgy, soft fudge chunks at their best but they are equally nice once cooled. Be warned these are very moreish!

Vanilla Fudgies

Makes 12

Ingredients
300g/10oz/2 cups self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
115g/4oz/ ½ cup caster sugar
100g/3½oz fudge, cut into pieces (any type of fudge you like – vanilla, chocolate, raisin, clotted)
125ml/4fl oz/ ½ cup milk
100ml/3 ½ fl oz/ scant ½ cup half-fat crème fraiche
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
60g/2o butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 200oC/180oC fan/400oF/Gas 6. Grease or line a 12-hole muffin pan.

Combine the flour, baking powder and sugar and sift into a large bowl, then scatter the fudge on top.

In a separate bowl or jug, lightly beat the milk, crème fraiche, egg and vanilla until smooth, then stir in the butter. Pour into the dry ingredients and mix together until just combined, then spoon big dollops of the mixture into the prepared muffin pan.

Bake for about 20 minutes until risen and golden. Leave to cool in the pan for a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.

This muffin recipe comes courtesy from my latest new book, Muffin Magic!