Breakfast Muffins

Nothing is nicer than to wake up in the morning with fresh, steaming fruit muffins and a cup of tea! It is often trickier to get these right than you think - getting the balance right so they aren't dry, or soggy, or overly fruity or starchy. I've tweaked this recipe from Australian foodie Donna Hay, I've just changed a few of the quantities to make them perfect!

You will need:
2 1/2 cups self raising flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup castor sugar

1/2 cup canola/vegetable oil

3/4 cup milk

1 large egg

1/2 teaspoon of vanilla bean paste, or 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

300g fresh fruit (Berries (fresh is best, but frozen works more or less, mashed banana and drained, stewed apples work well. You can compliment your fruits with spice eg. apple and cinnamon, banana and nutmeg..YUM!)

Regular sugar, for sprinkling



1) Combine all dry ingredients in a bowl, make a well in the centre.
2) Mix all wet ingredients (excluding fruit) in another bowl, pour wet mix into well in dry mix and stir until just combined, you do not want to overmix and work the gluten too much - it will make your muffins tough.

3) Fold through your fruit of choice

4) Line 12 muffin cases and fill to the top with mixture - don;t be scared to fill these right up to create the beautiful crusty muffin top everyone eats first!

5) Sprinkle the tops of each soon-to-be muffin with granulated sugar and with spices if you like, my favourite is cinnamon or nutmeg.

6) Bake in a 180°C fanforced oven for 35 minutes until tops are brown and delicious looking! When in doubt, check with a skewer. Leave them to cool in muffin tray for 5 minutes and enjoy! Makes 12.