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.

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Chocolat Chaud - French Hot Chocolate

This Chocolat Chaud aka French Hot Chocolate is made the old-fashioned way with hot milk and rich dark 85% cocoa chocolate. Add sugar or don't, to taste. In France, many don't add sugar but I need a little!

Years ago when we lived in Paris, it was a special treat to go out to a café for a café crème or chocolat chaud. In fact, we had a running joke about finding the most expensive cup of coffee. I think the winner was a café on the Champs-Élysées, natch, that charged me 35 francs for a small cup of coffee, which would have been about $10. In 1992, it seemed a small fortune. 

The upshot, as I’m sure you can imagine, was that we made coffee and hot chocolate at home at a lot. 

Chocolat Chaud - French Hot Chocolate

You can find chocolate powder in France but if you want to make traditional chocolat chaud, you need a good quality chocolate bar that is at least 70 percent cocoa. It’s also best made with whole milk. 

Ingredients

2 cups or 480ml whole milk

4.4 oz or 125g bittersweet chocolate, best-quality

2 tablespoons demerara or turbinado sugar or to taste

Method

Chop the chocolate roughly. (This chocolate was an Aldi buy. Great chocolate at a reasonable price.)

In a small pot, over a low flame, heat the milk until it just starts to steam. 

Remove the pot from the stove and add in the chopped chocolate. 

Whisk until the chocolate is completely melted. 

Add sugar to taste or let everyone add sugar to their own cups. Serve immediately or return the hot chocolate to the stove and cook for a few more minutes for thicker hot chocolate. This hot chocolate can also be cooled then warmed again to serve. 

Serve warm in demitasse cups, or small coffee or tea cups. It's so lovely, rich and thick that the sugar doesn't really sink until you stir!

Enjoy! 

It’s Sunday FunDay and we are celebrating National Hot Chocolate Day (which is tomorrow, 31 January) by sharing our favorite recipes. Check out the links below. Many thanks to our host, Camilla from Culinary Adventures with Camilla and her friendly helper, Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm.

• Cheese in Your Hot Chocolate? Yep. Chocolate con Queso from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Chocolat Chaud - French Hot Chocolate from Food Lust People Love
• Cinnamon Chilli Hot chocolate from Sizzling Tastebuds
• Homemade Hot Chocolate Bombs from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Hot Chocolate Cookies from Making Miracles
• Mexican Hot Chocolate from Mayuri’s Jikoni 
• Nutella Hot Chocolate from Sneha's Recipe
• Salted Caramel Espresso Hot Cocoa (Salted Caramel Mocha) from Amy’s Cooking Adventures
• Spicy Hot Chocolate from The Mad Scientist’s Kitchen

 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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Burmese-style Bean Thread Noodle Salad

This Burmese-style Bean Thread Noodle Salad is spicy and delicious, full of tasty crispy pork, shrimp, fresh cilantro, chili peppers and lime juice. 

This salad recipe is a family favorite that my Burmese friend, Ma Toe, taught me many, many years ago, back when we were neighbors in a small oilfield town in Brazil. I loved our diverse expat community and learned recipes from all over the world from friends there. 

Aside from how tasty it is, the best thing about this salad is that it can be made a day or two ahead of time. It travels well and keeps for several days in the fridge. I tend to make a big batch even if it’s just my husband and me at home because we can eat this every day till it’s gone and never tire of it! I hope you like it as much as we do!

Burmese-style Bean Thread Noodle Salad 

Mung bean thread noodles are available in Asian markets and many regular supermarkets as well these days. They are also called simply bean thread noodles or glass noodles but do not mistake them for rice noodles!

Ingredients

1/4 cup or 20g dried shrimp (or 2 tablespoons dried shrimp powder)

8 oz or 227g ground pork (or sub turkey or chicken)

Fine sea salt

6 oz or 170g raw shrimp, weight already peeled (about 1 dozen medium)

8 oz or 227g mung bean thread noodles 

Chopped hot fresh bird’s eye chili peppers to taste  (I use 3-4 but we like things spicy.) 

1 large purple onion, very finely sliced

1/4 cup or 60ml fresh lime juice

1/4 cup or 60ml fish sauce

3/4 teaspoon sugar

1 big bunch of coarsely chopped coriander leaves (You can use the soft stems too, but they must be chopped very fine.)

Method

Pound the dried shrimp, if using, in a mortar to flatten them into a fluffy powder. Set aside. 

Lightly salt the pork and pan-fry it, separating it into crispy crumbles as it fries. If your pork is very lean, you might need a drizzle of oil to get it to get brown and crispy. Remove from the pan to cool and drain the fat off.

Shell, devein and chop the shrimp into two or three pieces. Lightly salt them and cook them in the pork pan till just pink. 

Soak the mung bean thread noodles in hot water for 10 minutes, until soft. 

Drain and immediately rinse with cold water to stop the cooking. Drain well and set aside.  

Cut the noodles up with a pair of scissors a few times. This will make it easier to stir the other ingredients in. 

Put the sliced onions and chopped chili peppers in a bowl with the lime juice and set aside for a few minutes. The lime juice helps soften the bite of both the peppers and the raw onion. Add in the fish sauce and sugar to complete the dressing.

Put the drained noodles in a really big bowl, one big enough that you can stir without creating a big mess. Add in the chopped coriander and sprinkle with the shrimp powder. Mix thoroughly, using your clean hands, if that’s easier. 

Add the ingredients of the onion bowl and mix well.

Finally add the shrimp and pork and mix again. 

Taste and add more lime juice or fish sauce if necessary. Cover the bowl with cling film and keep chilled until ready to serve. 

We usually just eat this salad in small bowls with a fork, but it’s also excellent spooned into small lettuce leaves as a finger food, perfect for a party. You can put extra fish sauce and lime wedges out in case anyone would like to add more to their salad.

Enjoy!

It’s Sunday FunDay and I’m hosting. Today just happens to be my birthday so I thought it would be fun to get all of my fellow bloggers to share recipes they’d bring to a birthday party potluck. Check out all the delicious dishes (and one drink!) I so wish I could actually enjoy in real life today!

• Bhagar Rice from The Mad Scientist’s Kitchen
• Borage Sparklers, Both Boozy and Not from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Burmese-style Bean Thread Noodle Salad from Food Lust People Love
• Cheeseburger Sliders with Homemade Slider Buns from Karen’s Kitchen Stories
• Eggless Gajar Halwa Cake - Carrot Halwa Cake from Sneha’s Recipe
• Four Cheese Ravioli Skillet from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• French Macarons from Amy’s Cooking Adventures
• Greek Feta Spread (Kopanisti) from Palatable Pastime
• Maple Panna Cotta With Roasted Figs from Mayuri’s Jikoni
• Smoked Gouda Mac and Cheese from Making Miracles
• Tandoori Aloo Platter from Sizzling Tastebuds

 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

Pin this Burmese-style Bean Thread Noodle Salad!

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