Easy to make Raspberry Muffin Recipe

Why I bake rather than buy - Tempting as muffins look when I see them on sale in the shops as soon as I read the list of ingredients I am put off by the high levels of fats and sugars in them.

My Recipes. I like baking but I am not the sort of cook that enjoys wasting time with fancy ideas and baking techniques. My favourite recipes are simple to follow and give great tasting results and I also want them to be as healthy as possible too. Once I find such a recipe, which usually involves searching for a while and testing out the results; then I start to tweak and evolve the recipe idea. In the end I have the ultimate recipe for what I want to cook or bake. This may sound fussy and time consuming but the results make cooking and baking easier for me.

So here the recipe that I evolved and have been using to bake raspberry muffins and yes it is my own. The idea started life as a simple recipe for plain muffins, the first prototype of these were baked from a recipe found in a faded out of date cook book at the back of my cupboard. Eventually the recipe has been tweaked and altered to make a healthier version than the ones I have found in my modern cookery books, which often use quantities of vegetable oil, this one does not.

My recipe has the lowest amount of fat and sugar that I can use and still get the right texture, taste and appearance. The fruit I use in this muffin recipe is raspberries but you can experiment with other fruits that are in season. Raspberries add a nice fresh tang to the taste of these and by adding fruit to the recipe means I can get away with putting less sugar in it.

To make the Raspberry Muffins.

This makes 9 good sized muffins, if you want to make more adjust the quantities accordingly.

You will need these ingredients.

Flour - 6oz self raising flour.

2oz of soft margarine.

2oz of caster sugar. *

2 medium sized eggs.

50-60 ml of milk

4oz of fresh raspberries

a few drops of vanilla essence (if you wish but not essential)

You will also need - Muffin baking cases, a Muffin baking tin, the usual kitchen baking utensils - mixing bowl,a kitchen scale, oven gloves, wire cooling rack, spoon, fork.

Heat your oven to 200C /400F or Gas mark 6

• To make the muffin mixture - In a bowl put the 6oz of self-raising flour.
• Add the soft margarine (2oz) mix them together by squashing the margarine into the flour with a fork.
• Next stir in the 2 eggs (its a good idea to whisk them together with a fork in a cup first), also add the sugar(2oz) and the milk and if you are going to use it the vanilla essence.
• Beat all the ingredients together in the bowl until they are smooth and free of lumps.
• Now add your fresh raspberries and stir them into the muffin mixture. ( The raspberries are best washed, drained and dried as much as possible as if you add them when they are very wet you will affect the consistency of the mix and make it too wet and sloppy).
• Next you need to spoon the mixture into the muffin cases that are in the muffin baking tray.

If you have the modern silicone muffin baking trays you may not want to use paper cases.

If you do not have a baking tray especially for muffins you can put double thickness cases on a baking tray but they will spread out more in shape as they cook ( but they still taste delicious).

Place your baking tray in the oven for 20 - 25 mins aprox. this will vary depending on the oven and the amount of the mixture you have put in the baking cases.

Smaller versions of these 'buns' will cook quicker than the proper sized muffins.

When cooked leave to stand for a few minutes after you take them out of the oven, then they need to cool on a wire cake rack.

How long can you leave them before you try one? I always burn my fingers trying to snatch one from the case before they have cooled down enough to eat.

• Next - just relax and enjoy the results of your baking with a cup of coffee or tea.
• Remember to hide a couple of your home made raspberry muffins - for later in the day, as you will find that they will disappear very quickly.

* If you have a sweet tooth you may wish to increase the sweetness of this recipe in some way as I prefer a less sugary taste and it is healthier too.

1. Weigh all the ingredients (listed above) .
2. Mix the soft margarine into the flour with a fork.
3. Add all the other ingredients apart from the raspberries (or fruit of your choice).
4. Mix the contents of the bowl together, then when smooth add the raspberries, mix.
5. Put the mixture into the baking tray/cases.
6. Cook as instructions above.

This recipe would be a good one to make with children as it helps them to learn to cook in an easy and enjoyable way, the fruit is good too as it encourages them to appreciate the flavours in a fun way. However do n't let the children make this recipe without adult supervision, an adult needs to put the tray in and out of the oven. Also watch that the children allow the 'cakes' to cool before trying to eat them - as the fruit stays hot longer than the paper cases and cooked cake mixture.

Have fun coming up with your own variations of fruit in this recipe, for example I think you could substitute cocoa for some of the flour to make them chocolatey muffins.

Variations on the basic recipe try to substitute -

Blackberries for raspberries, or use blueberries or strawberries,

Add finely sliced apple to the above muffin recipe and have raspberry and apple muffins, you might need a dash more flour to adjust the texture of the mix.

I will try this recipe with frozen fruits in the winter and will update this recipe page with the results.

If you are desperate to make fruit muffins and have no fresh fruit in the house you could chop up dried apricots or add dried mixed fruit instead. As a last resort you can always try jam to flavour a plain muffin-mix or fruit flavoured yoghurt as a substitute for the milk quantity in the recipe idea.

Raspberry and plain chocolate muffins - when the mix is in the cases just before you pop them into the oven to cook - just add some small pieces of broken up plain chocolate - not too much just a couple of fragments of chocolate in each muffin case. Push the chocolate bits just below the surface of the muffin. These small delicious as they are baking, they are really tempting, be careful not to eat them too quickly when they come out of the oven as the chocolate will be melted and hot until you have allowed them to cool down for a while.