Blackberry & Lemon Muffinbread

it has been awhile since my oven was used,

the next day i'll be meeting some friends whom I can introduce,

to these muffinbreads that have a splash of lemon juice, 

but really baking for the friends is just an excuse - 

honestly I just needed to break loose, 

from Mister JOB's mental abuse (just kidding). 

so here we go...this bake is not your average muffins..it is tangy/citrusy with a hybrid texture of a bread and muffin thus I had it named Muffinbread. as usual I cannot help but testing out my recipe with a dash of (better) nutrition so I introduce some gritty wholemeal flour; this ingredient is however, always my downfall for bakes - which will turn out hard & compact even though I've added extra liquid (milk/water) to com bat this harsh ingredient. 

so usually my friend Addie (who enjoys baking as well) & I would talk about our bakes - what works, what doesn't - & she suggested that the wholemeal flour could be blended for a better texture. so that I did, & the texture of this bake turned out surprisingly well - not your typical crumbly muffin.

 these muffins are fit for a light brekky or a little-less-sin snack. 

Makes 12 medium + 12 small muffins

Ingredients

- Plain flour, 2 cups (440g)

- Wholemeal flour, 2/3 cup (100g), blended

- Lemon zest, 2 teaspoons (zest from approx. 1 lemon)

- Baking powder, 1 teaspoon

- Baking soda, 1 teaspoon

- Salt, 1/4 teaspoon

- Eggs, 2

- Sugar, 3/4 cup (160g - reduced from the original recipe which called for 1 cup)

- Plain greek yogurt, 1 cup (235ml)

- Grapeseed oil, 1/2 cup (other good oil like soyabean or extra light olive oil is fine too)

- Lemon juice, 1 tablespoon 

- Blackberries, 1 1/2 cup

- Cinammon, to dust

Methods

1. Preheat oven to 180 degree celcius.

2. Sift plain flour, baking powder baking soda and salt in a large bowl.

3. Stir in lemon zest and blended wholemeal flour.

4. In another mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, sugar, yogurt, oil and lemon juice.

5. Pour the liquid over the flour mixture and stir until well-combined. 

6. Stir in blackberries until just combined.

[at this point my batter was very stiff, so my rule of thumb for stiff batter will be to add milk (low fat/skim) tablespoon by tablespoon. this time i had to add 8 chinese soup spoon of milk for a smooth batter]

7. Spoon the batter into muffin cups until almost full.

8. Sprinkle some cinammon on the top. 

9. Bake for 25 - 30 minutes until muffin tops are slightly golden brown.  

10. Let cool in pan for 5 - 10 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack. 

Store

3 days - air tight container

2 weeks - frozen in air tight container

How was it?

in a nutshell these are feedback from my loyal food assessors--

Mama: not bad la. i got eat what (hahaha she is the cutest)

Bestfriend: not bad but sour (he is the best...he eats everything i bake & cook, good or bad)

Addie: love the flavour. the texture is like muffinbread. great try! (I must believe her for she is one the best food critic i know)

Allie: love the flavour!

Shermangabriel: the texture kinda different from a normal muffin. it's the most healthy muffin i've tried. like the natural flavour of the berries and sweetness is just nice because you taste the flavour of berries and it is not dry.

Yours truly: i love the flavour as well! but honestly fresh fruits muffins or any bakes for that matter go bad pretty quickly as compared to say...a chocolate bake. well it is a tad denser than an ordinary butter muffin but i was surprised by the texture..pretty good for a wholemeal muffin. 

Better it up!

- attempt a dark chocolate makeover for this recipe (oooooh)

- use low-fat yogurt

- add 1/2 cup of low-fat milk 

Verdict

am thankful for the people who appreciate my bakes (even on rainy baking days). thank you for always giving me constructive feedback to improve. cheers to more bakes !


Recipe Adapted from...
Canadian Living