Delicious Breakfast Fruit Muffins Recipe

It feels like I’ve been battling for ages with my child and food. At one point I think there was only about 5 things I could guarantee that she would eat; yoghurt, strawberries, wotsits, white bread with nothing on it and vegetarian sausages.
Yup, I had the kid who “didn’t like” potato or pasta and who’d gag if a vegetable even looked her way. This was a far cry from the baby who’d eat anything and everything put in front of her. I stressed about it for a long while and then did some reading on it and just decided to relax. Now I have a little one who’s palette is slowly growing and it’s wonderful to see her enjoying new foods.

A big revelation recently was when we went to a Pick Your Own fruit farm (Lenctenbury Farm near Corfe Castle in Dorset in case you were wondering) as Nonna likes to make jam and Alyssa is still a huge fan of strawberries. So, armed with our buckets we headed into the fields and needless to say there were several strawberries that did not make it to my little ones punnet but instead dripped from her chin as she devoured them (don’t worry I was very honest and paid for them at the end!)

What surprised me however, was when we were done with the strawberries we also did the blueberries and raspberries and I was shocked to see my little one also eating these straight from the Bush and telling me how delicious they all were.
I taught her what colours the ripe ones were and how to pick them correctly so that more would grow and we left with punnets full as well as her tummy.

She’s continued to eat the fresh ones at home as well but we have so many that I thought it might be nice to do something with them. So grabbing my little helper and my food stand mixer, we whipped up these delicious Breakfast Fruit Muffins which we made using our hand picked blueberries and raspberries and someone has really enjoyed having one of these for breakfast each morning…

Ingredients (makes 12):

• 256g Plain Flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 113g unsalted butter, softened
• 100g granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 120mls milk
• 128g fresh blueberries/raspberries/strawberries (quartered strawberries)
• Oats (optional)

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and granulated sugar for about 2 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl and beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla extract. (Don’t worry if it looks curdled – it’s fine!)
4. Gradually add the flour mixture, alternating with the milk, beating on low speed to combine. The batter will be very thick. Add the blueberries to the batter and fold gently with a spatula until evenly distributed. Do not overmix.
5. Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin tin (an ice-cream scoop with a scraper is good for this or good old-fashioned two spoon approach); they will be very full. Sprinkle the oats evenly on top of the muffins.
6. Bake for about 30 minutes, until lightly golden. Let the muffins cool in the pan for about 10 minutes. Run a knife around the edge of each muffin to free it from the pan if necessary (the fruit can stick), then transfer the muffins to a rack to cool completely.

NOTE: These can be frozen for up to 3 months and reheated or de-frosted and eaten immediately. If keeping fresh, store in an air tight container and eat within 5-7 days!