Mixed Berry Muffins with Wendy Davies!

Mixed Berry Muffins

These muffins are great for a quick breakfast. They go down well as an afternoon snack, or just whenever. And, in my household, they tend to get eaten almost as soon as they come out of the oven.

This recipe makes 12 large muffins. You can use any fruit you want, but my favourites are blueberry or cherry or mixed berry. Today, I chose mixed berry. I always use frozen fruit because the fruit stays plump and juicy and makes the muffins taste and look fantastic.

Ingredients:

I cup of wholemeal self-raising flour

1 cup of white self-raising flour

½ cup of raw sugar

Mixed Spice (about a teaspoon)

I egg

½ cup of Buttermilk

½ cup of Canola Oil

2 tablespoons Plain Greek-style Yoghurt – but I use the vanilla flavoured one as well.

2 cups of frozen blueberries / mixed berries / pitted cherries

Sliced Almonds

Method:

·       Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

·       In a bowl, mix the wholemeal and white self-raising flour, sugar and mixed spice together until well blended. (I usually do this by hand with a wooden spoon.)

·       In a separate bowl (the one big enough for the entire mixture) add the buttermilk and canola oil. Add the egg and then the yoghurt. Whisk all these ingredients together until the they are completely blended. (I use a hand whisk.)

Note: The idea here is to blend and add as much air as possible to the mixture. This will make the muffins light and help them rise in the oven.

·       Shake the combined flour, spice and sugar into the bowl on top of the egg, oil and buttermilk mixture. Using a wooden spoon, gently fold in the flour until the liquid is absorbed. Do not over mix, stop once everything is combined.

Note: The mixture should be stiff (meaning denser than cake batter). If it’s more like cake batter, add a bit more flour into the mixture. If it’s too stiff (difficult to stir or dry in spots), then add a bit more yoghurt to the mixture.

·       Add the frozen fruit into the muffin mixture. Gently mix the frozen fruit into the muffin mixture until combined. Again, do not over-mix. All you’re doing here is spreading the fruit as evenly as possible through the muffin mixture.

·       Spray your muffin tray with the canola oil spray to ensure your muffins come out without sticking.

·       Using the ice-cream scoop, place one scoop of muffin mixture into each muffin mould. (I use the scoop to make it easier to get the mixture into the muffin mould, but a wooden spoon would do the same job. It’d just be messier.)

·       Sprinkle sliced almonds on top of the muffins, gently patting the almonds into the muffin mixture with the back of the spoon.

Note: No force is needed, you are just ensuring that the almonds stay put and don’t fall off the muffins once they are cooked.

·       Place the muffin tray into the pre-heated oven for 25 minutes or until cooked through. They should be a nice brown on top and the skewer should come out clean when testing the insides.

·       After removing them from the oven, leave the muffins in the tray for 5 minutes.

·       Place each muffin onto a prepared wire cooling rack lined with baking paper. They should come out easily and intact.

Eat and Enjoy

Once completely cold, you can reheat the muffins for 20 seconds in the microwave, or just eat them as is – they are delicious either way.

Here’s hoping these muffins will be as big a hit in your household as they are in mine. Enjoy.

About the Author

Australian, Wendy Lee Davies began writing romances as a lark after leaving her communications and editing job of many years.

Wendy enjoys cycling, especially cycle touring which she did a lot of in her younger, some say more foolish, years. Now that she’s older and wiser, Wendy is wearing out the bike paths around her home town, making good use of her amazing pedal-assist electric bike. She's also traversed most of the incredible rail trails available in Victoria, and one in New Zealand as well.

If she's not writing or riding her bike, Wendy can be found enjoying a coffee in some cafe. Or taking landscape photographs. Sometimes she makes cookies or muffins. She’s even been known, on occasion, to annoy her writing friends with long, detailed editorial comments on their latest writing endeavour. But don't worry. They get her back, tenfold, when it comes to critiquing her latest romance-in-progress.

You can catch up on her latest news via her website ( www.wendyleedavies.com ). She loves hearing from readers, so don’t be shy about dropping her a line.

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Good Enough For Love: Willow's Bend Series, Book 1

Renovating a country hotel challenges everything Amber knows … about family and about love.

When Amber Hutchinson inherits a country hotel, she wants to sell it and move on. The money she’ll earn will secure her future, even if living in the country while renovating a hotel never featured in her plans.

Zach Wentworth, a local sheep farmer, wants to do the right thing. When he comes across a woman stuck in the hotel window, he naturally tries to help.

Sure, Amber knows their sizzling attraction won’t last. It never does, because she’s never been good enough for anyone to love.

Without the hotel, Willow’s Bend is likely to die a slow death, so Zach does whatever he can to secure his town's future. But doing the right thing might mean risking his heart.

With the town eagerly watching their every move, Amber and Zach must choose between protecting their hearts and taking a chance on love.

Buy on:

Amazon Kindle

Amazon UK

Amazon Aust