Berry Breakfast Muffins

I can't believe I've never, ever thought to seek out frozen berries before. Why ever not? How come these affordable little punnets of juicy goodness have never entered my life before now? A friend told me about them a few weeks ago, told me to get myself to the freezer section in Aldi and purchase myself some frozen berries for £1.49. Absolutely delicious, she said, stir them into Greek yoghurt and top with granola for a yummy breakfast. I was kind of expecting a mix of strawberries, raspberries and blueberries, but when J came home with them ticked off the shopping list, I discovered he had bought Black Forest Fruits. This is a mix of blackberries, sour cherries, blue grapes and blackcurrants, but still very delicious looking and perfect for the indulgent breakfast I was craving.

Yes, the Muffin Craving hit me this morning with absolutely no warning, bam! just like that. I had fully been intending to make toast, but before I knew it I had the oven on, my apron over my pyjamas and was busy baking up my breakfast. First of all I took a generous handful of the frozen berries, popped them into a bowl and gave them a quick 30 second blast in the microwave to semi-defrost them. You can put frozen fruits straight into muffin batter, but as the cherries and blackberries were rather large I defrosted them a little first so's that I could scissor-snip them up.

I used my fabulous Easy Peasy Muffin recipe, topping each fruit laden dollop with a sprinkling of oat granola breakfast cereal (with slivers of almond) before popping them into the oven. I twiddled about for 25 minutes while they baked, I honestly couldn't wait to get them out and inhale my freshly baked fruity, muffiny breakfast.

Oh, sooooooooooooo good. They looked just so SO good when they came out of the oven! Light, golden and fluffy, and bursting with juicy fruit.

I immediately set about making myself a mug of coffee to accompany my warm Berry Muffin. I get asked a lot about my coffee you know, about how I make it and so forth. Well.....I use my wonderful, extremely fantabulous Nespresso machine (a present from J which I love to bits and press into action multiple times a day), and my low-tech bit of milk-frothing kit. The milk frother is called the Bodum 1446 Latteo Milk Frother, and it really does just what it promises. That is, it produces a thick, frothy milk, perfect for adding to freshly brewed coffee, plus it gives your upper arms a bit of a mini workout at the same time (we're talking vigorous, manual pumping here, jigging those bingo wings!). So now you know my coffee secrets ;)

The muffin was delicious. It was quite sharp tasting (a funny thing...I gave one to Little B, telling him it was a weeny bit sharp, and he looked at it alarmingly asking if it was going to cut him, awww bless!). This is a low sugar recipe anyways, and the berries weren't particularly sweet (well duh, sour cherries, I kind of forgot that when I added them in, that they would taste sour). But as a breakfast muffin, accompanied by a mug of good coffee, they were pretty perfect. Certainly no complaints from the Little People either, they thoroughly approved of this type of breakfast fodder.

A yummy start to the day. Might even have to do the same again tomorrow.

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Comments

[Kathryn McAllister]

So many possibilities, definitely going try these muffins.
I have used them baked with cookie dough over the top, makes an easy peasy pudding.

[Litl Bits]

I'll be over shortly....will you have some of those yummy muffins and fresh coffee ready?
I'll bring some supplies and we can hook while we chat...
wouldn't that be "loverly"?

[Carol]

Your muffins look delicious! I've been a bit obsessed with muffins recently - been experimenting with replacing the sugar with healthier alternatives - date syrup, molasses and maple syrup have all worked well. Off to try out your recipe now - thanks :)

[Lizy Tish]

They look delicious! Now you are making me want to make muffins....

[OkeCrafter]

Looking at these gorgeous muffins made my mouth water. They look so delicious! I think this will be on my list of makes when I get back to the UK. Thank you for sharing. XX

[Elisa]

Yummy they sound divine, I have some frozen summer berries lurking in the back of the freezer, I bought them with the good intention of smoothie making....muffins sound much more tempting :-)

[Mercy Gallardo]

I always have them in my freezer so that when the craving is there, they´re simply ready for any baking...Aldi has raspberries too..

[Sarah west mids uk]

Dear Lucy I hope our Aldi has those frozen fruits. Will be looking tomorrow.
Am enjoying half term week making bread and lots of crochet!
Have a lovely book called The book of buns by Jane Mason. Recipes from around the world. A really good book.

[Inge]

Delicious muffins!

[Anne Marie]

I have bought that fruit mix in Aldi, for smoothie making, although sometimes they remain in freezer as it's outside in garage! I must must make those muffins. Look great. I used to have a Nespresso milk frother and heater but as it was so much trouble to use, with the plug etc, I decided to sell it, so got £40 on Ebay.

[Jennifer]

Lovely images.

[Emily]

I love frozen berries! I'm not a big fan of berries on their own (unless they are strawberries of course! yum!) but in smoothies they are delicious! (and cheaper than buying them fresh...)

Those muffins look so delicious I want to go make some right now!

[Jess C]

I just walked straight through into the kitchen and made these up...... only 20min to go. yum!

[Karen]

Great idea, maybe we'll have muffins tomorrow too!

[Cockney Blonde]

Yummy! I use frozen fruits quite a lot but never thought to add them to muffin mixture, x

[Sarah]

Used the last of my own picked and frozenblackberries this week with your muffins recipes , Lucy.
I pick then soak them in vinegar for one hour, rinse and freeze.
Brilliant through the winters months.
Last week apple and blackberry pie, yum yum.
Fijne vakantie.

[Cheryl Thoms]

Now I need a milk frother :-).
A trip to the local Aldi is set for later today and I will be making your muffins this weekend.

[CJ]

I remember when I discovered frozen berries too, a lightbulb moment! They're brilliant in smoothies as well, you can take out just a few at a time, it makes them really good value compared to fresh ones I think.

[Jacqueline]

The fruits look delicious. I always try to keep some in the freezer and use them in baking. As well as eating them with yoghurt I also enjoy them with rice pudding!

[Joy]

Great call crazy lady :-) lots of love Joy xx

[Jackie]

Sounds yummy! I may have to go and seek of some frozen berries of my own, there's an Aldi in the next town about 15 mins away. I've never had muffins for breakfast either but there's always a first time for everything :O)x

[Izzy]

The muffins look delicious… I really must try them!

[Caroline]

Delicious looking muffins...think I will give those a go! Caroline xx

[Miriam]

Mmmm...muffins! I'm off to read your recipe. I can see breakfast muffins in my future!

[Judith from Germany]

Every summer I collect blackberries in the woods and along the fields. Everytime I go for a walk I take my little bucket with me. At home I wash the berries and put them into boxes. Then they are put into the freezer. Everytime I long for bakingfun I defrost some. Is cheaper than Aldi and more fun anyway!