My MIL recently gave me Donna Hay’s Fresh and Light Cookbook, which contains lots of great ideas for making meals, snacks and treats healthier and lighter. Everything I’ve tried from the book has been a great success in our household – I even got Lady AB excited about eating carrots and chickpeas!
One of my favourite recipes from Fresh and Light is the Basic Muffin recipe which uses wholemeal flour, raw sugar, oil and buttermilk (which is low in fat and doesn’t actually contain butter). The book suggests the whole heap of variations to add to the basic recipe and our favourite is with raspberry and oat.
These muffins are so fluffy and tasty that I don’t think I’ll ever go back to a recipe using refined flour, butter and caster sugar again. Here’s my version of the original with a little less sugar and buttermilk.
Raspberry and Oat Muffins by Donna Hay
- 300g plain wholemeal flour
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- 90g raw sugar (or coconut sugar)
- 2 tablespoons honey (or agave)
- 1 egg
- 300ml buttermilk
- 80ml vegetable oil (or coconut oil)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 160g frozen (not thawed) raspberries
- 45g rolled oats
1. Preheat oven to 180 C/160 C fan-forced/gas mark 3.
2. Mix the flour, baking powder and sugar in a large bowl.
3. In a separate bowl, mix the honey, egg, buttermilk, oil, vanilla and honey until combined.
4. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until just combined – don’t overmix.
5. Gently stir through the raspberries and oats (or whatever ingredient variations you decide to add).
6. Spoon the mixture into 12 1/2 cup capacity muffin tins lined with paper or silicon cases. Sprinkle with extra oats and white chia seeds – I tell Lady AB that they’re ‘sprinkles’ and it’s a sneaky way to boost the protein in the muffins.
7. Bake for 25 minutes or until cooked. A skewer should come out clean.
You could also try other variations such as:
- 140g chopped dates + 1/3 cup LSA
- 30g rolled oats with 35g each of chopped dried apricots and slivered almonds
- 190g sliced dried figs, 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
