Summer Berry Muffins
Fresh summer berries add delicious flavour, colour and nutrition to these tempting berry muffins. They are best fresh from the oven, but are also good once cooled—an ideal addition to a lunchbox, or for breakfast on the go.
1/2 cup (125 mL) whole-wheat flour
1/3 cup (75 mL) all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon (15 mL) baking powder
Pinch of salt
3/4 cup (175 mL) mixed fresh berries, such as blueberries and raspberries
2 tablespoons (25 mL) light margarine
1/4 cup (50 mL) light brown sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 cup (250 mL) skim milk
• Combining whole-wheat flour with white flour increases the fibre content of these muffins and adds valuable nutrients such as B-group vitamins.
• Fresh berries are naturally low in fat. They offer dietary fibre and make a good contribution to vitamin C intake. Raspberries also supply folate, and blueberries, like cranberries, contain a compound that helps to prevent urinary-tract infections.
- Preheat the oven to 400ºF (200ºC). Use paper muffin cups to line 9 cups of a muffin pan or coat with cooking spray.
- Sift the flours, salt and baking powder into a large bowl. Gently fold in the mixed berries.
- Melt the margarine gently in a small saucepan, then add the sugar, egg and milk and mix until smooth. Pour this over the flour mixture and gently fold together just enough to combine the ingredients. The mixture should remain quite lumpy.
- Spoon the mixture into the paper muffin cups, filling each about two-thirds full. (Half-fill the empty cups with water.) Bake for 18–20 minutes or until the muffins are risen and golden-brown.
- Transfer to a wire rack to cool slightly, then serve warm or allow to cool completely before serving. The summer berry muffins can be kept in an airtight container for 1–2 days.
Summer berry muffin variations:
• Instead of a mixture of white and whole-wheat flours, use all whole-wheat flour.
• For a hint of spice, add 1 1/2 teaspoons mixed spice, ground ginger or cinnamon with the flour.
• Replace the berries with other fresh fruit, such as chopped apples, apricots, peaches or strawberries or dried fruit, such as sultanas, raisins, chopped apricots, dates or figs.
• To make pear and cinnamon oatmeal muffins, mix 3/4 cup whole-wheat self-raising flour, 1/4 cup (50 mL) oat bran, 1 teaspoon (5 mL) baking powder, a pinch of salt and 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon in a bowl. Fold in 1 peeled and chopped pear. In a separate bowl, mix together 2 tablespoons melted light margarine, 1/4 cup (50 mL) sugar, 2 eggs and 1/2 cup (125 mL) plus 2 tbsp (25 mL) orange juice. Pour this over the flour mixture and fold the ingredients together. Spoon into 9 paper muffin cups and bake as in the main recipe.
• For mini summer berry muffins, divide the mixture among 30 mini paper muffin cups and bake for 10 minutes.
preparation time 10 mins
cooking time 20 mins
makes 9 muffins
Each serving (one muffin) provides calories 98, calories from fat 18, fat 2 g, saturated fat 0 g, cholesterol 24 mg,
carbohydrate 18 g, fibre 1 g, sugars 8 g, protein 3 g.
Choices per serving: Carbohydrate 1, Fat 1/2
Excerpted from Eat to Beat Diabetes, available now in the Best Health Store
I am sure people did not READ the instructions properly and filled EVERY cup with water...only the EMPTY ones PLEASE. Will try them with spice and add wet ONLY until the batter stays lumpy not soupy.
I haven't made these muffins yet, but I'm not sure why everyone is saying they are soupy. Some people added water to the muffins after they were spooned into the muffin tin cups?? is that right? or is the recipe itself soupy??
Why on earth would anyone add water to the muffin after its in the cup. It says fill the EMPTY muffin tins with water, not the ones you have filled?
If people are reading this and adding water to the muffin batter after it's in the cup then they are stupid lol they shouldnt be allowed to use an oven if that's the case. Please clarify!
The baking of these muffins went fine, for me :). I did not add water at any point, since I did not completely understand when or why I should add it. But the muffins taste well, but they lack a final "oomph". I'm not sure how I could make them tastier. I already added cinnamon.. Perhaps more will do?
I will probably give them.. 4/5 .. Barely. Because they are so healthy, easy, and doesn't taste bad, either! It just needs a bit more taste. I'll probably experiment a bit with this :).
I made these muffins and they turned out to be excellent..do NOT add water to the batter. Maybe that is why some have had problems with the recipe. The water to to fill the EMPTY muffin tins that are not being used as this recipe only makes 9 muffins. I also only used 1/2 a cup of milk as well...if you need more milk just add to the batter slowly. Overall very good and I will definitely be making them again. :)
These muffins were horrible! I wish I would have read the comments before I tried this. The batter turned out like soup and they did not bake thoroughly! I am SO disappointed!!!!!!!! Such a bad recipe!!!
I could not see anywhere in the recipe to add water to the batter. The water addition is for the unused muffin spaces not used when you bake them. !!
I made this recipe and the batter is thinner than pancake batter. I'm pretty disappointed. The muffins fell in the middle. I baked them longer than the recipe stated and they were still a little raw inside. Maybe they would be good with half of the milk. I don't know. I probably won't try.
I have made these muffins 3 times and they are tasty. And super easy to make; my 3 yr old likes to help make these too.
I use 1/2 cup milk and slowly add more as needed. Add some vanilla and cinnamon or nutmeg as well.
This last time I tried adding the water like it says to but turns out horrible. The muffin sinks in the middle! Definitely don't add water.
Really? i tried it but it was not like that...
I don't know who made this recipe in your test kitchen (if they even did) but it doesn't work!!! The batter ends up like soup, so the muffins don't bake properly. Either not enough flour, or too much milk. Someone needs to check for typos maybe. And trust me, I made sure I put in the right amounts. Plus, not a whole lot of flavor on top of it all. In the end, I wasted an hour or so, and will end up throwing them out!