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.
- 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
- ½ tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 120g water
- 95g whole wheat spelt flour
- oats for sprinkling
- 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.
(If you don't have a microwave just heat them up in a small saucepan). - Blitz with a hand blender until a puree.
- 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.
Leave a Reply