Raspberries & Chocolate

Thanks for lots of comments on my last post. It’s lovely that lots of people liked what I had to post.

It's been three weeks since I last posted. I think I lost some momentum in there somewhere but need to get back on the blog-bike and get moving. I've been pretty shocking leaving comments anywhere too. You know how you try to keep posts up-beat and a bit chirpy but then relapse and let the icky bits of life slip in? That's how I feel at the moment. Blogging about fabric and cakes is my favourite thing. So I think I'll keep doing that.

(Also is it just me but is it always this hard to catch up sleep after daylight saving starts? I think sleep deprivation is half my problem too.)

Here's a super easy recipe that I got from a friend recently. I think it's Donna Hay but it was a photocopy of a photocopy so I'm not sure. I've added a few notes of my changes at the end.

Raspberry, Coconut & White Chocolate Muffins
Makes about 10 large muffins
2 eggs
1 cup yoghurt
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 cups self-raising flour
3/4 cup caster sugar
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1 1/2 cups frozen raspberries
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
Optional: extra white chocolate chips, melted

Heat oven to 180C
Line muffin tray with squares of baking paper or lightly grease tray. Mix together the eggs, yoghurt and oil. In another bowl mix the flour, sugar, coconut and choc chips. Mix in the egg mixture until just combined. Fold through the raspberries. Spoon into prepared muffing tin and cook for 25-30 minutes; test with a skewer. When cool, drizzle with a little extra melted white chocolate.

• I added the white chocolate (what a surprise!) to the original.
• The recipe called for little loaf tins but you're more likely to have muffin tin than little loaf tins, I’d say!
• Note to self: a little tub of yoghurt doesn't equal a cup. Just use the yoghurt you have, don't go out and buy vanilla yoghurt just because the recipe says so then discover you're short anyway. I topped it up with low-fat strawberry which would have been fine in the first place!
• Second note to self: read the recipe thoroughly! 1/3 cup of oil doesn't mean 1 cup of oil especially when the eggs have already been added. Then I had to rescue the eggs from the oil and estimate the oil plus egg still hanging around. Then wasted 2/3 cup of oil!
• I mixed the raspberries in with the wet ingredients. Next time I would fold the raspberries through at the very end. They broke up a lot and turned the mixture a bit grey. I think it would look better if the raspberries were whole but it didn't alter the flavour at all.
• I reckon you could leave out the coconut if that's not your thing. I liked both the taste and texture. Ditto the white chocolate!
• Next time I think I'll ramp up the baking paper size. They look better than paper cases and rise a little more with the paper. I cut a square of paper (about 20cm square but not with much precision) folded into quarters, then eights, then sixteenths, etc. Though there is probably a better way to fold it so that sits in the tins.

Did I say I ate all the muffins except two I gave to my mum? Don't calculate the calories for me. Thanks.