I always find a little extra time to myself on the weekend of the Bathurst V8 Supercars race. It’s not often my boys sit still for long periods of time, but when it comes to that race, all 4 of them manage to be glued to the screen for many many hours.
I am not complaining. No-one noticed when I slipped away to read a little of my book on my bed. That generally doesn’t happen in daylight hours…ever.
Even though I could have happily read all afternoon, I knew school was starting back the next day and so I headed to the kitchen to start thinking about another week of lunch boxes and dinners.
We have been enjoying this seasons blood oranges, their bright pink juice and slightly bitter taste a refreshing change to a normal orange.
I had a hankering to use them in a recipe, so alas, this simple and relatively healthy muffin was born. Ordinary oranges will also work in this recipe.
I used Rapadura Sugar for these muffins. If you haven’t heard of it before, it’s an unrefined cane sugar that has a lovely golden brown colour and a caramel taste. It is produced using minimal processing so it’s nutrient content is preserved, as opposed to most refined sugars. It is one of many on the market at the moment that has been deemed ‘healthy’, but remember….at the end of the day, sugar is sugar, so whichever type you choose, use it sparingly. You can replace it with ordinary raw sugar or brown sugar in this recipe.
The fresh blueberries available at the moment are cheap, plump and delicious, so I used fresh. Frozen berries are also perfectly fine to use when baking muffins, just don’t defrost them first.
As I was offering them around that afternoon, my Mr 5 looked up with big eyes and said in a quiet voice “Did you really put blood in these muffins mum?” as his hands hovered over the top of the plate.
After a big family laugh, he had a quick lesson on blood oranges and then happily gobbled one up.
- 200 grams (approx 1 1/2 cups) wholemeal plain flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 cup rapadura sugar (raw or brown sugar also fine)
- 1/2 cup rice bran oil
- 1 egg
- 3/4 cup milk
- juice of 1 blood orange (approx 1/2 cup)
- 200 grams fresh or frozen blueberries (approx 1 full cup)
- Preheat oven to 170 degrees celsuis.
- Mix all dry ingredients together in a bowl with a spoon.
- Make a hole in the centre and add all of the wet ingredients.
- Stir gently until combined and then carefully fold in the blueberries.
- Place in muffin tins lined with paper cases and fill to 3/4 full.
- Bake for 20-25 muffins, or until risen and golden and they spring back when lightly pressed.
- These will last for 2 days in an airtight container or can be wrapped individually and frozen.