Muffins

Here are the recipes for the muffins we made using Fairtrade ingredients. All Fairtrade ingredients are marked * and all, apart from bananas, are available from the Traidcraft stall in church

All recipes make 12 medium-sized muffins
Temperatures for fan ovens need to be 10 degrees lower
Flour could be substituted with gluten-free flour in any recipe but you will need to add more liquid
Baking powder could be substituted with gluten-free baking powder or you could use gluten-free self-raising flour (as in the orange muffins)

Banana and chocolate muffins
Preparation time 20 mins Cooking time 20-25 mins

Ingredients
300g plain flour
1tbsp baking powder
125g Demerara sugar*
225ml milk
2 large free range eggs, beaten
125g butter, melted
2 bananas, mashed*
100g chocolate, chopped into small pieces* (we used half each of milk and plain chocolate but you could use either)
Method
1. Pre-heat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6 and put 12 paper muffin cases in a 12-hole muffin tin
2. Sieve flour and baking powder together into a mixing bowl and add sugar. Stir to combine
3. Pour the milk into a separate bowl or jug. Crack in the eggs and beat the mixture
4. Stir in the melted butter. Add the bananas and chocolate and stir to combine
5. Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and stir well
6. Spoon the batter into the muffin cases, dividing it equally
7. Place in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes until well risen and golden
8. Cool in the tin and then remove

Apple and carrot muffins

Preparation time 20 mins Cooking time 30-35 mins

Ingredients
225g self-raising flour (or plain flour plus 3 tsp baking powder)
Pinch of salt
175g brown sugar*
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon }
1/2 tsp nutmeg grated or ground }some shops stock Fairtrade spices
2 eggs lightly beaten
1 apple finely grated
135g carrots finely grated (or you could use parsnips or a mixture)
Small handful of pecan nuts (optional and you could use other nuts e.g. walnuts*)
Small handful of pumpkin seeds (optional)
Handful of sultanas* (optional)
150ml oil sunflower, vegetable, or light olive oil* (the ones served on Sunday 6th March contained half olive oil* and half rapeseed oil)

Topping (optional but gives a nice crunch):
100g caster sugar*
50g plain flour
50g butter, cubed
1 tsp ground cinnamon

It’s easiest to make the topping first and leave it on one side

Method:

To make the topping:
Mix together the sugar, flour, butter and cinnamon. Mix with a fork or your fingers and then leave on one side

To make the muffins:
1. Preheat oven to 180C.
2. Grease muffin tins or line with paper cases
3. In a large bowl mix together the flour, sugar, salt and spices,
4. Mix in nuts, seed and sultanas if used
5. Add oil and eggs and gently the fold mixture together
6. Stir in carrot and apple and parsnip if used
7. If mixture seems quite dry and sticky, add a little more oil (or you can add milk)
8. Spoon into muffin tins to about 2/3 full (fill to about ¾ if not using topping)
9. Sprinkle the topping over muffin mixture (if used)
10. Bake for approx 30-35 minutes -Check with a skewer if unsure – if it comes out clean the muffin is cooked, if sticky leave them in for a bit longer.
11. Leave in the tin to cool a little, then turn out.

Orange muffins – gluten and dairy-free

Ingredients
250g self-raising gluten-free flour
100g caster sugar *
1/2 teaspoon salt
Juice of three medium-sized oranges – about 190ml
75ml mixture of olive oil* and rapeseed oil (half of each worked well)
1 egg
Zest of two oranges – about 1 tbsp

Method:
1. Heat oven to 200 C / Gas 6. Grease bottoms only of 12-hole muffin tin or line with cases
2. In a medium bowl, combine sieved flour, sugar, orange zest and salt; mix well
3. In a small bowl, combine orange juice, oil and egg; blend well
4. Add liquid mix to dry ingredients and combine
5. Fill cups 2/3 full. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until a skewer inserted in centre comes out clean
6. Cool for 1 minute before removing from tin.