Cranberry Muffins

New 99p beauty from a Charity shop

Discovered one huge packet of dried Cranberries in the back of the cupboard with a short expiry. A well intentioned purchase unfortunately overlooked and sadly abandoned to loiter in a forgotten corner of the kitchen. Some time with my friend Mr Google gave forth a blueberry muffin recipe which I tinkered about with. Half an hour of messy time with the Junior Gingerbread's later we have cranberry muffins.

Soak the dried cranberries in hot water for an hour or so before using. This makes much nicer muffins and works with most dried fruits.

Ingredients

150g (5oz) fresh or dried cranberries

100g (4oz) caster sugar

100g (4oz) butter

300g (11oz) self-raising flour

1tsp baking powder

2 large eggs, beaten

1tsp vanilla extract (or almond essence if you prefer)

140ml (¼ pint) milk

For a less child friendly version swap some cranberries for dark chocolate chunks

Method

• Line a muffin tray with paper muffin cases.
• Cream the butter and sugar until fluffy then add in the eggs, one at a time.
• Add the milk and vanilla extract then fold in the flour and baking powder to make a thick batter.
• Add the blueberries and spoon the mixture into the muffin cases. Bake for 25 mins at 160°C (gas mark 3). Test and look for another couple of minutes. 
• Leave the muffins to cool in the tray for 10 mins before turning out.

This is an adjusted version of this recipe.