Blackberry Mini Muffins #MuffinMonday

These Blackberry Mini Muffins are tender and fluffy with lovely bursts of flavor and color from the chopped fruit. Somehow 22 mini muffins always disappear quicker than 11 full-sized muffins!

For a change the other day, I decided to pop into Aldi to see what was on special only to discover that their 6 oz or 170g punnets of blackberries were only 85 cents! I bought 10. We love blackberries in bread, tarts, jam, cake, cocktails and, of course, muffins so how could I resist?

I immediately froze them single file on metal trays and then piled them into plastic bags and popped them back in the freezer where I will find them whenever I feel like adding blackberries to something tasty. I am feeling very smug right now. 

Blackberry Mini Muffins

If you have the time, freezing fresh blackberries first makes them much easier to chop up and lots less messy! Put them on a metal tray overnight in the freezer and then take them out just as you are ready to mix them into the dry ingredients. 

Ingredients for 22 mini muffins:

1 cup or 125g flour

1/4 cup or 50g sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup or 85g chopped blackberries 

1 egg

1/4 cup or 75g Greek yogurt

1/4 cup or 60ml milk

2 tablespoons canola or other light oil, plus extra for the pan 

Method

Preheat your oven to 375°F or 190°C and prepare your mini muffin pan by lining it with little paper muffin cups or brushing the inside with oil. 

In large bowl whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. 

Chop the blackberries and put them in the dry ingredient bowl.  

Stir to coat them with the dry ingredients.

In smaller bowl, whisk together the egg, yogurt, milk and oil.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredient and fold until just combined. 

Divide the batter between your mini muffin cups. 

Bake in the preheated oven about 12-15 minutes or until the muffins are nicely browned and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. 

Leave them to cool for a few minutes then remove them from the pan and cool on a wire rack. 

Enjoy!

It’s the final Monday of the month so that means it’s time for Muffin Monday! Check out all the great muffins we are sharing below. 

• Blackberry Mini Muffins from Food Lust People Love
• Breakfast Oatmeal Muffins from Jolene's Recipe Journal
• Choco Peanut Butter Oat-Millet Muffins from Magical Ingredients
• Mini Chocolate & Banana Muffins from Making Miracles
• Morning Glory Muffins with Vanilla Cream Cheese from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Protein Packed Muffins from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Sourdough Red Velvet Muffins from Zesty South Indian Kitchen

#MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins. You can see all of our lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday can be found on our home page.

Pin these Blackberry Mini Muffins!

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Blackberry Blue Cheese Walnut Loaf #BreadBakers

Slightly sweet with a good dollop of honey, each bite of this blackberry walnut blue cheese loaf is delightful mix of salty and fruity and nutty. It’s especially lovely toasted.

This month our Bread Bakers host is Renu, the author and recipe creator behind Cook with Renu. She challenged us to create a bread with fresh fruit, sweetened without white sugar. I cannot tell you how long I agonized over this one, until it suddenly occurred to me that Renu never said it had to be a very sweet bread!

Blackberry Walnut Blue Cheese Loaf

I am a fan of sweet and salty together and, when I can, I also love to add a bit of crunch, so nuts were essential. This lovely loaf was inspired by a muffin I baked a few years ago with thyme, goat cheese and blackberries.

Ingredients
1/4 cup or 60ml honey
1/4 cup butter or 56g
3/4 cup or 180ml milk
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups or 315g flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon flakey sea salt or 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
3 1/2 oz or 100g blue cheese
6 oz or 170g fresh blackberries
1/2 cup or g roughly chopped walnut, plus extra for decoration, if desired

Method
Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare your loaf by lightly rubbing it with oil or lining it with baking parchment.

Crumble the blue cheese and set aside. Reserve some cheese for topping the loaf before baking.

Measure your milk and honey into a microwaveable vessel then warm in the microwave. Add in the butter, cut into cubes and set aside so the butter melts and the mixture cools.

Cut the large blackberries in half or thirds, leaving the little ones whole. When the butter mixture is just slightly warm, whisk in the eggs.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together your flour, salt and baking powder. Add the blackberries to the dry ingredients and stir to coat and separate the pieces.

Pour your wet ingredients into your dry ones and stir a couple of times.

Add in the blue cheese and walnuts and fold gently to combine.

Spoon the batter into your prepared loaf pan and top with the reserved cheese and walnuts.

Bake in your preheated oven for about 35-40 minutes or until the loaf is golden and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Allow the loaf to cool for about 10 minutes in the pan then remove it to a wire rack to cool completely before slicing.

Enjoy!

Many thanks to this month’s Bread Bakers host Renu from Cooking with Renu for the fun challenge! Check out all the other lovely no-white-sugar breads with fresh fruit we've baked for you this month:

• Apricot Sour Cream Bread from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Blackberry Blue Cheese Walnut Loaf from Food Lust People Love
• Eggless Whole Wheat Pear Bread from I Camp in my Kitchen
• Hawaiian Sweet Buns from Gayathri's Cook Spot
• Honey Oatmeal Applesauce Bread from the Mad Scientist's Kitchen
• Julekage from All That's Left Are The Crumbs
• Sugar free Harvest Muffins from Cook's Hideout
• Sugarless and Vegan Apple and Carrot Loaf from Cook with Renu
• Vegan Orange Cinnamon Pull-Apart Bread from Ambrosia

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page.

We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

Pin this Blackberry Blue Cheese Walnut Loaf!

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Quick Blackberry Jam

Quick blackberry jam is so easy that you can have homemade jam in less than 25 minutes. Seriously. That doesn’t count cooling time but those extra minutes will teach you patience, young grasshopper. Good things do come to those wait!

If you’ve ever let jam making scare you, this is the recipe you’ll want to try. First, it only makes one jar, so no huge commitment. Second, it only has three ingredients. And finally, but probably most importantly, it’s quick, easy and delicious. And P.S. It's also great in muffins. Get the muffin recipe here.

Quick Blackberry Jam

As I mention in my blackberry jam muffin post, I cannot resist berries on sale. This quick blackberry jam extends their shelf life in a most wonderful, easy way.

Ingredients - for one jar - 1 3/4 cups or 414ml
3 (6 oz or 170g) punnets large blackberries (mine were Driscoll's from Mexico)
2 cups or 400g granulated sugar
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
zest 1/2 lemon
1 1/2 teaspoons or 7g unsalted butter - optional

Method
In your kitchen sink, sterilize one 2-cup or 480ml jar by putting a teaspoon in it and then filling it with just boiled water. Fill its lid as well. Leave to cool while you get on with the jam. I pour the boiling water over my ladle and jar funnel too, just to make sure it’s all sterilized. Once it’s cooled enough to handle, pour the water out of the jar and lid and leave to dry.

Put the clean blackberries in a heavy bottomed pot along with the lemon zest. Mash them with a potato masher until completely pulverized, occasionally using a sharp knife to cut them off of the masher grid.

Add the sugar and lemon juice. Stir well.

Put the pot on the stove over a high heat, stirring frequently, until it comes to a rolling boil. Boil for five minutes, skimming off and discarding any scum that appears with a spoon. Do not walk away from the jam at any time.

Reduce the heat to medium high and cook at a slow boil for an additional 12-14 minutes or until the jam reduces by about one-third in volume, continuing to skim scum if it keeps coming out.

You really don’t need a thermometer for this quick jam but I like to watch the temperature rise. Supposedly for jam to set, it has to reach 220°F or 104°C. This quick jam did not but it set just fine.

Remove the pot from the stove and add the butter. Stir well till the butter has melted completely.

Using a clean ladle and funnel, transfer the quick jam to your jar. Screw the lid on tightly and turn the jar upside down. Leave to cool completely. Once cool, turn the jar upright and store in the refrigerator.

Enjoy!

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