Blueberry & Oat Muffins …

I’m embarrassed to admit that I first made these muffins thinking they might be a healthy treat to eat while on WeightWatchers.  I mean, they have blueberries which are known to be a superberry, and oats are considered a health food.  So these must be healthy right?  Wrong.  Although I suppose they contain more nutritional value than a plain muffin, they are still full of butter and sugar and so are worth around 10 ProPoints.  Oops!!

So now I’ve told you why you shouldn’t make these, but now I’m about to tell you why you should. They are quite simply delicious!  The oats provide a nutty texture and the brown sugar a slightly caramel flavour.  These are my go-to muffins, perfect for a picnic or a roadtrip.  Just not so handy if you are on a diet.  

I like to make my muffins using pieces of baking paper rather than muffin cases.  It allows you to make a bigger muffin and looks more rustic and modern.  Just simply cut out a square of baking paper about 10cm x 10cm and use a glass or anything round and about the same size as your muffin tin moulds to shape the paper.  Try and crease the paper so that it sits flat and flush against the glass, otherwise the muffin mixture will fill all the folds and look slightly strange.  When spooning the mixture into the cases, try to avoid getting too much of it on the paper, otherwise it will burn.

This recipe comes from Lorraine Pascale’s “Fast, Fresh, & Easy Food” (available from Amazon here).   Try using other fruits as well as blueberries.  Blackberries or raspberries would be equally delicious.  But really the options are endless!

ipe Card

Blueberry & Oat Muffins

Yields 12

Prep Time

15 min

Cook Time

25 min

Ingredients

1. 100g butter
2. 300g flour
3. 275g brown sugar
4. 50g rolled oats (havermout vlokken)
5. 4 tsp baking powder
6. 1 tsp baking soda
7. pinch of salt
8. 200g fresh or frozen blueberries
9. 300g creme fraiche
10. 2 eggs
11. 1 egg yolk
12. to garnish …
13. 25g rolled oats (havermout vlokken)
14. handful of blueberries

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
2. Melt the butter in a small pot over a low heat. Leave to cool.
3. Cut out 12 squares from baking paper (about 10cm x 10cm) and use a glass the same size as your muffin tin moulds to push the paper into the mould and crease the paper tightly around the glass to create a paper case. Leave these aside ready to use later.
4. Pop the flour, sugar, rolled oats, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a large bowl and mix together really well.
5. In a separate smaller bowl, whisk together the eggs and egg yolk, before adding the creme fraiche, and the melted butter and mixing well to combine.
6. Add the wet mixture to the dry ingredients together with the blueberries and gently mix to combine (don’t over mix otherwise the muffins will be tough).
7. Place the first paper case into a muffin mould and spoon in a little of the mixutre. Repeat until all the paper cases are full with even amounts of mixture.
8. Sprinkle the garnish (oats and blueberries) on top of each muffin.
9. Bake for 25 – 30 minutes – the tops should be golden brown and a skewer inserted into the middle of one of the muffins should come out clean.
10. These muffins are equally delicious when eaten warm or cold. They will keep for a few days in an airtight container, and also freeze well.
11. Eet Smakelijk!
12. Monique xx