Earlier on today, during a Twitter party, I tweeted that I make a
mean Bran and Apple Muffin as a healthy(ish) addition to any lunchbox. I was
asked for the recipe, but it was nowhere to be found online. So, the obvious
thing to do was to make some muffins. I know, as if I needed an excuse. The
good thing about these muffins is that they only have 137 calories per muffin
(compared with over 200 calories in a normal muffin). They also taste
delicious!
The recipe is inspired by one from a Good Housekeeping 'Family Meals for a Fiver' cook book, which is
fantastic!
You will need:
250ml (9fl oz)
semi-skimmed milk
2 tbsp orange
juice
50g (2oz) All Bran
9 ready-to-eat
prunes
100g (3½ oz) light
muscovado sugar
2 medium egg
whites
1 tbsp golden
syrup
150g (5oz) plain flour,
sifted
1 tsp baking
powder
1 tsp ground
cinnamon
1 eating apple,
peeled and grated
demerara sugar to
sprinkle (I used multi-coloured sugar because it looks cool)
Makes 12 muffins
Preheat the oven
to 190ºC (170ºC fan oven) mark 5. Line your muffin tin with 12 muffin cases.
In a large bowl, mix
the milk and orange juice with the All Bran and set aside for ten minutes.
Put the prunes in
a food processor or blender (I find a hand-held blender works fine) with 100ml
(3½fl oz water and whiz for 2-3 minutes to make a purée Then add the
muscovado sugar and whiz again briefly to mix.
In a clean bowl, whisk the egg whites until the form soft peaks.
Add the whites to the milk mixture with the golden syrup, flour, baking powder,
cinnamon, grated apple and prune mixture. Fold all the ingredients together
gently. Make sure you disturb the mixture as little as possible.
Spoon all the mixture into the muffin cases and bake for 30
minutes or until well risen and golden brown. Sprinkle with sugar just before
serving.
I have always found with this recipe that they do not rise as much
as you hope they will, so don’t be disappointed. They do, however, taste
absolutely amazing, so enjoy!
