"All you need to know for a healthier child...."
As a weekend treat we often go to Gails Artisan Bakery. I love it as it's always full of such visual beauties, from crumbly muffins to gooey cakes and breads. Although many of these foods are regarded as a treat, the main essence of the place inspires eating together and rustic family food which I think is why I so enjoy eating there.
One of my favourite muffins is their Raisin Bran Muffin and I recently bought their book to try making them at home. I have adapted their recipe to fit in with the Cooking them Healthy ethos with positive results. Every batch I have made so far has literally vanished, not even allowing them time to get cool!
My version of the muffins contains no refined sugar and uses raisins and mineral-rich maple syrup to sweeten them, and plenty of fibre from the oat bran and raisins to support a healthy digestive system. They make an ideal afternoon snack or breakfast on-the-go.
Raisin Bran Muffins
Ingredients
180g raisins
100g oat bran
100g maple syrup
2 large eggs
120g honey yoghurt (I like Yeo Valley or Rachel's Organic)
30ml rapeseed oil
110g gluten-free flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
120g water
95g wholewheat spelt flour
oats for sprinkling
Method
Preheat the oven to 180C and have the baking shelf in the middle of the oven.
Place your raisins in a bowl and cover with 120g water. Place into a microwave on high for 1 minute. Blitz with a hand blender until a puree. (If you don't have a microwave just heat them up in a small saucepan).
Place all your dry ingredients in one bowl: flours, baking and bicarb powders, oat bran. In another bowl, add your wet ingredients: eggs, oil, yoghurt, maple syrup, raisins.
Next, pour your wet ingredients into your dry and mix. Do this quickly and lightly as you don't want to overwork your mix and result in a tough and dense muffin.
Line your muffin tin with cases and fill two-thirds full. It does feel very loose as a mix but don't worry it does work. Sprinkle with oats.
Place in the oven and cook for 20-30 minutes, until raised and puffed up. If checked with a skewer it would come out with a moist but clean crumb.
Enjoy warm or alternatively we love to make loads and freeze them to have to hand for whenever they might be needed.
Why not make a big batch of these so you can freeze them to have to hand any day...
