Ain’t Nuffin’ Bad about a Muffin.

I’ll admit that I’ve got a bit of a shopping addiction. I buy clothes I really don’t need (and half the time like), lip balms to add to my collection of thousands, food that I’ll never get around to eating and other things which I really can’t explain. Such as the miniature plastic skeleton currently sitting in my top drawer.

But cookbooks are the one thing that I know won’t go to waste. The most recent addition to my ever-expanding collection is the Muffin Bible by Penguin Books. It’s a cute little compendium containing simple and easy-to-follow recipes for all kinds of muffins, from healthy Oat & Orange to OTT-dessert-disguised-as-a-muffin-which-makes-it-seem-OK Self-Saucing Chocolate ones. The recipes only contain a few ingredients, making them ideal for a quick baking jaunt during study breaks. Or, if you’re anything like me, a fantastic replacement for study altogether.

The Muffin Bible.

I bought this book on a whim, with a huge craving for muffins. I wanted something easy and cheap, preferably using ingredients we already had. My criteria led me to the Strawberry Muffins which only required the extra purchase of strawberries. Flour, eggs, milk and its various other, very basic, constituents were sitting in the cupboard at home.

The muffins are wonderfully moist, with the strawberries becoming almost jammy in texture and taste. We used fresh ones (see sidebar), but tinned could easily work. The muffin itself is heavy with cinnamon, a delicious companion to strawberries, and not too sweet. For this reason it could almost pass as being in the same category as the aforementioned Oat & Orange. Well, at least that’s what I’m now telling myself after devouring three.

Strawberry Muffins.

Strawberry Muffins

Makes 12

3 cups plain flour

1/2 cup raw sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 TBSP baking powder (I used 1 TBSP of bi-carb soda and they were fine)

1 tsp cinnamon (optional)

125g butter, melted and cooled slightly

3 eggs

1 cup milk

1 1/2 cups chopped strawberries

1. Preheat the oven to 200C and grease a 12-cup muffin tin.

2. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugars, baking powder and cinnamon.

3. In a separate bowl mix together the butter, eggs and milk.

4. Add to the dry ingredients and then fold in the berries. When making muffins it’s important not to over mix the batter. You don’t want the wet and dry ingredients to be completely mixed in; lumps of flour are a good sign. Don’t be scared.

5. Spoon the batter into the tin and bake for 20 minutes.

6. Serve hot or cold.