‘Life was much easier when Apple and Blackberry were just fruits‘. Inventions in modern day technology has reached to its pinnacle whereas I am still sitting at the bottom, hoping to catch hold of the tech dragon by its tail some day. But by the time I apprehend a little about how these applications work something new crops up and the former become obsolete. Alas, till date an Apple and a Blueberry continue to remain just plain fruits to this technology challenged mommy.

The only gadget I am a bit comfortable and fond of is my Dslr camera…but there is lot to explore still…than just pressing the click button every time that I shoot a picture.

Well, the next best thing I could do to hide my inefficacy in handling these gadgets is to bake some delicious Muffins with the fruits. And bake I did, a few fruity muffins last weekend with children, enjoyed the whole process of baking, eating and bonding together.

The enchanting fragrance of vanilla pods, sprinkle of flour here and there, messy kitchen counter, sticky hands with dough, intoxicating aromas from freshly baked goody and to see smiles on the faces of loved ones….Ah…weekend baking is a real stress buster.

Why an overdose of Muffins, you may ask?  Well, there is nothing spectacular in all the three muffin recipes I baked last weekend. Hmm..and to think of making three different posts for the same…looked futile to me.

Coming back to the muffins...Lemon muffins..’cause we have a benevolent neighbor with plenty of lemon trees in their farm…Orange muffins  ’cause children like the flavor and the old stock needed replenishment. Fruity & veggie muffins ’cause me and hubby wanted weekend indulgence with less guilt. I used all purpose flour for citrus muffins to get light and airy muffins, as these goodies were for pure weekend indulgence for the children.

1. Lemony Muffins with Lemon Glaze

Ingredients;

• 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup milk
• ½ cup sugar
• ¼ cup vegetable oil
• 2 tbsp. lemon juice
• 1 tsp. lemon zest
• 1 tsp. Apple cider vinegar
• 1 tsp. Baking powder
• ½ tsp. baking soda

Lemon Glaze;

• ½ cup powdered sugar
• 1 tbsp. lemon juice

Method; Preheat the oven to 180°C and grease muffin tray or use the liners.

Stir in milk, apple cider vinegar, oil, sugar, lemon juice and zest in a bowl. In a separate bowl add flour, baking powder and baking soda and mix in well using a fork.

Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir to just combine all the ingredients together.

Pour the batter into the muffin liners until it is ¾ th full.

Bake the muffing for 20 minutes or till done and the top is golden brown in color. Let it cool completely before frosting.

Combine sugar and lemon juice until it makes a smooth paste. Add additional sugar till you achieve perfect frosting consistency.

Spoon a little of the lemon frosting on the cooled muffins and decorate with a few lemon zest.

2. Orange Muffins with Chocolate Chips

Ingredients;

• 1 ½ cup All purpose flour
• 1 cup Orange juice
• ½ cup sugar
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 tbsp. yogurt/curd
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• ½ tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. Orange zest
• Chocolate chips
• A pinch of salt

Method; Pre heat oven at 180°C and grease a muffin tray or line it with paper cups.

Two large oranges will be good enough to make a cup of juice. Grate the zest with a small grater before squeezing the oranges for juice.

In a bowl add four, salt, baking powder, baking soda, chocolate chips, orange zest and mix well. In another bowl add orange juice, sugar, yogurt (curd),  oil and beat with a fork a few minutes till sugar is dissolved.

Add dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and fold in lightly with a fork to just mix all the ingredients. Do not over mix the batter.

Pour the batter in the muffin tray and fill each cup till it is ¾ th full.

Bake the muffins at 180 °C for about 20 minutes or till the top turns golden brown in colour. Take out the baking tray and check the muffins by inserting a knife in a muffin, if it comes out clean the muffins are done.

Let it cool, dust it with powdered sugar or frost it with orange frosting just as the lemon frosting done in the above recipe of lemon muffins.

3. Fruit & Veggie Muffins  

Ingredients;

• 2 cups whole-wheat flour
• 1 ½ cups mixed fruit & veggies
• ¼ cup vegetable oil
• ½ cup yogurt/curd
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 2 tsp. Baking powder
• ½ tsp. baking soda
• Handful of almonds
• A pinch of salt
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Method; Pre heat oven at 180°C for 10 minutes and line a cup cake tray with liners.

A mix of fruit of your choice can be added in the recipe. I used apples, oranges, banana and also grated carrots to add extra nutrients.

Chop an apple finely, peel and dice banana and oranges into small pieces. Scrub and grate a carrot.

Add al the chopped fruits, and brown sugar into a blender and blend just for a few seconds. Make sure not to run the blender too long, we don’t need puree of the fruits. Ina bowl add the fruit and sugar mix, yogurt, oil, grated carrots, vanilla extract and mix well.

In another bowl add whole wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and stir with a fork to mix all the ingredients well.

Add the dry ingredients into th wet ingredients and fold in to just incorporate all the ingredients together. Do not over mix.

Pour the batter in the muffin liners  tl   ch is ¾th full. Sprinkle crushed almonds on top.

Bake the muffins at 180°C for about 25-30 minutes. These muffins will come out quite dense and moist unlike the muffins baked with all purpose flour.

Notes;

1. Both orange and lemon muffins look the same in color as I did not add any artificial color in the recipe. You can add a few drops of orange food colors.
2. Fruity whole wheat muffins are quite dense and stays good just for a day or two. A couple of times these muffins became too wet when baked, and I used the same to make a dessert with custard. Wherein I dunked chunks of these muffins into vanilla custard and served chilled.
3. The texture of the muffins might change depending upon the consistency of batter which might vary due to the flour you use in your recipe. Some flour absorb more water and you might need to adjust wet ingredients accordingly.

 

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