Apricot, Berry and Bran Muffins

After my success with my recent Cherry Banana Muffins, I decided to bake more healthy muffins that took advantage of the bounty of summer fruit on offer at the moment. I found a recipe for Berry Bran Muffins that could be tweaked to appease my desire for some fresh apricots in a muffin.

Actually, quite a bit of tweaking took place to suit our whims. E wanted choc chips as well as berries. I just wanted fruit so I made the first couple of dozen without choc chips and threw a handful in the mixture for the last dozen. I also reduced the sugar in the recipe as we had enjoyed the previous batch so much with minimal sugar. And I included some light sour cream in place of milk.

Unfortunately the shelves overflowing with fresh fruit can be a little deceptive in the supermarket. The raspberries I bought were the best I could find on display and yet I still had to pick through them and discard some mouldy bits. How disappointing at the height of the season! Makes me wish I could get myself organized to go pick my own berries. Just now sure I can manage it this year!

Substandard raspberries aside, these muffins were lovely. We have enjoyed them at home and at work. Although they might linger in the freezer this week while we enjoy a few festive treats, it is good to know there are some healthy snacks at hand for when we need something a little lighter. These muffins are a little tart and seedy from the raspberries and studded with juicy sweet chunks of apricot. Makes me wish it could be summer all year long!

Apricot, Berry and Bran Muffins
(adapted from Family Circle’s The New Muffin Cookbook)
Makes 36 mini muffins

1 cup (70g) processed bran
1 cup (250ml) light sour cream
½ cup (125ml) milk
2 ¼ cups (280g) self raising flour
1 egg, lightly beaten
¼ cup (90g) honey
60g butter, melted
125g apricots, stoned and diced (3 or 4)
100g raspberries
(handful of choc chips - optional)

Preheat oven to 200 C. Grease your mini muffins pans (or a regular 12 hole muffin pan) or use silicone pans which don’t need greasing.

Place processed bran (I used AllBran), sour cream and milk in a large mixing bowl and set aside for 5 minutes (which gives time to chop the fruit or get the remaining ingredients together.)

Add flour to bran mixture. Mix egg, honey and melted butter in a small bowl or jug and add to bran mixture. Stir until just combined. The mixture will be a little lumpy. Gently fold in berries and apricots (and choc chips if using). Ideally the berries are meant to stay whole but mine fell apart and that was fine.

Spoon into muffin cups. Bake for 20-25 minutes until a skewer comes out cleanly when inserted into the centre of the muffins. Stand for 5 minutes and then turn onto a wire rack to cool.

On the stereo:
Cavalcare La Tigre: Various Artists