Tuesday 31 January 2012

Lemon and Berry Spelt Muffins


In a foolish effort regain just a teeny bit of normality into my life, I decided  to bring my crew of 3 little people into the Avoca cafe.  For those who don't know, Avoca is a fashion store, gourmet food shop and cafe.  All the food is baked in store and it's always absolutely delicious.  All was going suspiciously well until I had to stop one of the 3 little people from trying to lick a piece of quiche through the glass counter as another was picking his nose (please tell me this happens to other people). I left the cafe with yet another slight Stress Sweat on my brow from trying to keep everyone in check. On the way out I caught sight of what looked like the most amazing Lemon and Berry Spelt Muffins.  I came home and decided to try to make my own version of these muffins.  Maybe eating in is destined to be the new eating out, at least until certain little people reach 18 - you know who you are!

I took a basic muffin recipe and pimped it slightly.  Very, very happy with the results and although I could never say that they're a health food, you could do a lot worse than eat a few of these little beauties.

Ingredients
125g / 4.5oz butter, melted and cooled
125ml milk
2 large eggs, lightly whisked
zest of 1 lemon
225g / 8oz wholegrain spelt flour
2 tsp baking powder
100g / 3.5oz granulated sugar
75g / 2.5oz dark brown sugar
200g / 7oz fresh or frozen berries (I used a combination of cranberries and blueberries)

Method
Preheat the oven to 180C.  Line a 12 hole muffin tray with paper cases.
In a large bowl, mix the melted butter, milk and eggs together.  Add the lemon zest, flour, baking powder and sugars until just combined.  Be careful not to overmix.
Fold in the berries into the mixture and pour into the prepared muffin cases.  Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle of one of the muffins comes out clean.

Probably not a good idea to place a wedge of lemon on top before baking - it sunk!

13 comments:

  1. These look delicious-- like the perfect way to save yourself from such an outing! And from what I remember when my sibs were younger-- at least no one stripped naked!!

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  2. Your muffins look lovely and the thought of your little one trying to lick the display glass to get at the quiche made me laugh out loud. Always good to know they have a good appetite! :-)

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  3. You've got the spelt and you've got the berries - of course they are healthy Claire! They also look absolutely delicious.

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  4. Leanne: it's all ahead of you. They'll drive you to drink but they'll make you laugh every single day.

    Little Loaf: I think they do it to make me old before my time - nothing to do with their appetites at all!

    Choclette: Having a chocolate blog means that you think everything else is healthy ;)

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  5. These look amazing!! I'm bookmarking these as I'm on a spelt phase at the moment :)

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  6. Baking Addict: I've noticed your current spelt fetish! Please do add these to your list.

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  7. They look delicious. I love spelt flour.

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  8. Miss Cake Baker: I thought I'd notice the difference in taste between spelt and wheat flour but in this case the healthy option is just as good.

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  9. Hi Claire, just came across your blog -it's great! And these muffins look fab! I bought spelt flour a while ago but haven't used it yet - must try make these muffins someday soon!

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  10. LOL - I have two of my own little people. The muffins look great. Following you now. Hope you enjoyed London!

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  11. Oh wow these sound great! and definitely seem like the healthy sort of thing one should be baking at the beginning of the year - maybe I should take not, I have had a particularly unhealthy day today of brownie for breakfast and cheesecake for lunch! oops! I love the little muffin wrappers you baked them in too - so cute!

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  12. Hi Clare (without an "i"), I'm on a bit of a spelt frenzy these days, haveing gone so long not being able to buy it anywhere - delighted with the results too.

    Susan: Hope to put a blog post up about London in the next few days. Had a blast!

    Gem: Brownie and cheesecake in the same day? Tsk, tsk. New day, new week, new resolutions!

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  13. Great recipe! Yes little ones are interesting to have around aren't they, challenging our perceptions and patience. Wouldn't have missed it for anything!

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