Plum muffins

(makes 15 regular muffins or 24 mini muffins + 6 regular)

Adapted from Christina's Cucina

Decided to give these muffins a try after receiving about 40+ free plums from my brother-in-laws farm, super sweet and juicy but doubt I'd get through that many in a few weeks! Changed the original recipe to wholemeal flour (extra fibre), reduced the sugar and increased the plums so that it was a bit of a healthier snack for the toddler too :) They were surprisingly moist and sweet despite the modifications, definitely pretty close to a perfect muffin recipe with no butter (just oil), minimal sugar and lots of yummy fresh fruit! On the second occasion of trying this out I ran out of eggs and substituted with 2 Tbsp ground chia seeds and 6 Tbsp water, thank you google, and was amazed at how well they turned out! Good to know for an egg-free option...

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

2 cups (275g) wholemeal plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
60g caster sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 eggs
100ml olive oil
1 cup (250ml) yogurt (if using Greek yogurt, add 1 tbsp milk)
6 to 8 medium plums (should weigh about 350g) 

raw sugar, to sprinkle

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 C. Prepare the muffin tray by placing the muffin cases in and spraying the inside with oil (to avoid the muffin sticking to it).

2. Combine the wholemeal plain flour, baking powder, baking soda, caster sugar and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl.

3. Whisk the eggs, olive oil and yoghurt together in a separate bowl.

4. Dice the plums into small pieces.

5. Mix the yoghurt mixture into the dry mixture and stir until just combined, don't stir too much as this will result in dense muffins.

6. Fold in the plums then spoon the mixture into the muffin cases until almost full. Sprinkle the top with raw sugar for a crunchy top, if desired (well, you probably desire it but if you think it's too unhealthy you can leave it out).

7. Place in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes, or until brown on top and a knife pierced through comes out clean.

8. Serve warm.