New Baby Berry Breakfast Muffins

This week's foody post was going to be about meatballs. But as it's currently surprisingly seasonably warm, no one wants to think about meatballs. So I'm going to save them for the inevitable monsoons/blizzards/thunder storms we'll probably get next week, and tell you about berry muffins instead.


I had some lovely redcurrants in my vegetable box this week. They looked very pretty and reminded me of being little, as we had lots of currant bushes in the garden at home. They also reminded me that whenever we opened the freezer a few random frozen ones would always tumble out - my mama had a tendency to freeze them but not get around to using them before they managed to escape their container and hide behind the ice cream.

Anyway. They looked wonderful but gosh, they were sharp. Definitely not suitable for eating on their own. I contemplated various fates for them (apart from freezing; they didn't deserve that and the cat gets enough exercise chasing the frozen peas that always tumble from my freezer) but eventually decided on muffins.


This was a two pronged solution as it meant 1) using up the currants and 2) that we could take some as a new baby present to some friends of ours who have recently made a person. Muffins seemed like an appropriate gift as they're quick and easy to eat and, as I added some oats as well as the berries, these had a fair amount of goodness in them. And obviously, sugar. But new parents can generally do with some energy.

New Baby Berry Breakfast Muffins


220g plain flour
10g oats (and another tablespoon for the tops)
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
85g brown sugar (plus another tablespoonful for sprinkling)
1 egg
240ml milk
90 ml vegetable oil or melted butter/margarine
100g berries (I'm quite sure that most sorts of berries would work here, even frozen ones if you increase the cooking time a smidge)


Preheat your oven to 200C and prepare your muffin tins with liners or grease.


Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt, then stir in the oats and sugar. Put to one side.


In another large bowl, beat the egg with a fork then stir in the milk and oil. 


Make a well in your dry ingredients and pour the wet into the dry. Stir until just combined - it should still be lumpy but you don't want to be able to see any flour. 


Stir the berries through.


Fill the muffin cups to 3/4 full, then sprinkle over a spoonful of oats and sugar. Bake for 20-25 minutes. You'll know when they're done as they'll be browned and springy.


Eat for breakfast. Or at any other time.


(I made a pan of big ones and another pan of miniature ones, but I think you'd get about 12 normal size ones from this mix.)