Become a Breakfast Champion and Make this Quick Fruit Muffin Recipe

Time is always tight in the morning. As much as we plan to prepare in advance there are always those mornings when there just isn't enough time. One of the first things to suffer during these busy times is breakfast. Why not become a breakfast champion by preparing a wholesome fruit muffin recipe?

It's relatively quick to prepare a muffin batter. Recipes abound on the internet with apparently the most searched muffin recipe being blueberry muffin. Although muffin recipes vary, a wholesome muffin generally has no added sucrose ( sugar) and is made on wheat flour. In this recipe I've added some pepita and hazelnuts for added nutrition. That's by the way a great way to get some bonus nutrients without anyone noticing :) I used wonderful local honey as the sweetener and actually used some banana grown by a neighbour  that I'd stored in the freezer since summer.

I generally use seasonal fruits and although blueberry muffin is a firm favourite in our house, the current abundance of beautiful Queensland strawberries seemed perfect for this moment. It's easy enough to substitute the fruit in any muffin batter to make a strawberry muffin or use any other seasonal fruit. Of course, you can use frozen blueberries or strawberries if you're looking to make a healthy muffin recipe any time of the year.

Preparation time for this recipe is around 15 minutes and you can go ahead and freeze so you have something to grab for breakfast if you are running late.

Breakfast Champion Fruit Muffin Recipe

Ingredients

50 g Hazelnuts ( skin removed)

50 g Pepita

80 g Banana

1 egg

250 g Buttermilk

120 g Olive Oil

120 g Honey

1 teaspoon Vanilla

280 g wholewheat ( wholemeal) Self Raising Flour

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

150 g Seasonal Fruit ( Strawberry or Blueberry)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 160C
2. Place a muffin cup in each cavity in a muffin baking tray - 12 muffins
3. Mill the Hazelnuts and Pepita in a food processor until ground to form a flour 
4. In an electric mixing bowl add mashed banana, egg, buttermilk, oil, honey, and vanilla and mix on medium speed until combined
5. Add flour, cinnamon and mix again until just blended - do not overmix
6. Add blueberry or strawberries by gently folding into the mixture. Do not over beat the muffin batter  as this may cause the muffins to harden and also bake unevenly. Note too if you are using frozen blueberries or strawberries be sure to defrost them before use.
7. Spoon batter into each muffin cup
8. Place a few extra berries ( blueberry or strawberry ) on top of each muffin and gently push into the batter
9. Bake at 160C for about 25 minutes
10. Muffin will be cooked when an inserted skewer is dry when removed.
11. When cooked remove from the oven, wait a few minutes and if you are planning to enjoy immediately then sprinkle a little icing sugar on each muffin. If you are planning to freeze your muffins it is best to not add icing sugar to the tops of the muffins.
12. Cool on a tray and store muffin in an airtight container.

Some notes and tips about this muffin recipe:

• These muffins may be frozen and used as required.
• Use an ice cream scoop to help even out your muffin mix between the muffin paper cups
• Fill each paper cup to about 2/3 to avoid spillage
• Make your muffin batter as you need it and as close to possible to the time you need it. Making muffin mix in advance is not recommended
• The buttermilk in this recipe can be substituted with ordinary full cream milk if desired.
• Use eggs that have been kept at room temperature

• By eliminating added sugar and using local honey this recipe makes great healthy blueberry muffins or strawberry muffin if you prefer.
• You can add a crumb topping to the muffin to make more of a treat
• The olive oil used can be substituted with coconut oil if this is your preference. I have made this recipe with coconut oil and it works very well.
• Chia seed can be added to the recipe for added health benefits and interest
• The Pepita in this recipe may be substituted for Sunflower Seeds or even Pinenuts if you prefer
• Almond can be substituted for hazelnuts in the recipe
• Other sweeteners to consider would be brown sugar and maple syrup however these should not be directly substituted but rather would require some recipe development
• You can always substitute unsweetened applesauce for some of the oil 
• This recipe can easily be converted to a mini muffin
• You can substitute the self raising wheat flour for plain wholemeal flour and add some baking powder or baking soda. This may take a little experimentation though being guided by the usual substitution should be fine.
• Use a seasonal fruit guide to help decide which fruit to use in your muffin recipe
• A good tip provided by Martha Stewartis to grease the top of the muffin tin so that any batter falling out of the muffin pan will not burn and cause additional cleaning
• Remember to reserve some of your fruit to add to the top of each muffin. This will give an overall lovelier looking muffin.

Some Fun Facts about Muffins

• Blueberry muffin is the most searched muffin recipe on the internet.

• A muffin characteristically has a moist crumb, chewy texture and open grain.

• The main causes of dry hard muffins is over mixing of the batter and can also be due to over cooking.
• Several American States have official State muffins. New York has the Apple Muffin and Minnesota has the Blueberry Muffin.
• There are two types of Muffins. English muffins and American muffins. The American muffins have a round base and top and usually have some form of sweeteners like sugar, brown sugar or maple syrup. English muffins are small round flat breads which are commonly sliced horizontally and used to carry savoury foods. The English muffin appears to date back to before the 18th century the American muffin came along later around the mid 19th Century.

Does Dello Manooffer a Muffin?

We deliver to our stores blueberrymuffin daily. Our Blueberry muffin these days comes with a handmade crumb topping that's made in our kitchen and sprinkled on top before we bake. We've been making muffin for about 10 years now and over the years have offered everything from strawberrymuffin, banana muffins, zucchini muffin to chocolate muffin. Our blueberrymuffin range has included fresh blueberries and all sorts of variants like lemonblueberry muffins to blueberry oatmealmuffin and many variants in between. These days we tend to stick with our visitors favourite which is blueberrymuffin every time.

All of our Muffins are made with fresh buttermilk and a "from scratch" recipe. We know in the industry premixes are common play but they are easily picked by their white heavily aerated look and texture. At Dello Mano we believe in style and substance so each muffin offers the real lightly aerated but dense texture of a homemade muffin.

We've just launched online a Blueberry Muffin 6 pack - get yours online. You can buy a single Dello Mano blueberryMuffin at either of our cake shops at New Farm or in Brisbane CBD at the Wintergarden. You can also order by calling us on  0498002468.