Recipe for wonderfully easy breakfast muffins or tea cake

This recipe was given to me some time ago by a friend who in turn got it from who knows where.   Recently I've begun experimenting with it and it really is a great flexible recipe, so I've decided to share it.  For those of you who watch your consumption of animal fats and/or sugar, the good news is it has neither butter nor sugar in it.

It's the easiest recipe in the world, so here goes...

Ingredients

2 apples peeled and chopped (you could probably use pears or plums or bananas etc instead if you wanted to)

100 g dates (I recently used half raisins and half dates which worked very well)

225 g self-raising wholemeal flour (you can also use half self-raising white and half wholemeal if you want it a little lighter, but personally if I can avoid white flour I do)

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 tablespoon lemon juice

zest of 1 lemon

125 ml plain yoghurt

2 eggs beaten

100 ml vegetable oil

 

Last time I made this I also added a handful of chopped walnuts and a handful of dessicated coconut.  If it's not sweet enough for you, you could add a tablespoon of honey, or sprinkle some brown sugar on the top in the last 5 mins of cooking.

Method

Place apple, dates (and/or raisins, coconut and walnuts), flour, cinnamon and lemon zest in a large bowl and mix well.  Mix beaten egg, yoghurt, oil and lemon juice (I whisk them altogether using a simple hand whisk or fork).   Pour wet ingredients into dry ones and mix together using a wooden spoon or spatula (no need for heavy kitchen machinery!).  

Pour into a grease proofed muffin tin or 20 cm cake tin and bake at 180C for 30 mins as muffins or 1 hour as a cake.  Check with a skewer through the middle to make sure they're / it's done.  Leave in the tin for about 5 mins and then turn onto a cooling rack.  Makes about 15 muffins or cake for 6-8 people.  

Happy baking!

By Mummy Dearest