Annabelle White’s Apricot Cinnamon Muffins

Apricot Cinnamon Muffins

My friend Bev is an avid recipe collector, and she frequents second hand book stores looking for treasures. In her collection I came across one by an Australian food writer called Annabelle White called Best Recipes. There are many recipes in it that appealed to both me and Bev. So the next couple of posts will be on her recipes.

I first tried her Apricot and Cinnamon Muffins. I love muffins and make lovely blueberry Muffins, I’ll have to post that recipe sometime. Is there anything more comforting with a cup of tea? I’ll confess to taking these to work this week and having one for breakfast as well as tea. I love making muffins, because the recipe is usually so easy and involves mixing wet and dry. I made these after a busy day when I was knackered – cooking is my distressing method, so long as it’s not too complicated and there’s not much riding on the outcome of course! I love the tartness of the apricots in this, but feel they are a touch tart, so I might add more sugar in future. I think the addition of cream for the bulk of the fat makes them nice and light – the same is true of scones. So without further ado here’s the recipe:

Ingredients:

2 cups of flour
4 teaspoons of baking powder
½ cup of sugar
1 heaped teaspoon of cinnamon
1 cup sliced dried apricots
1 large egg
½ cup of milk
½ cup of cream
¼ cup of oil

Method:

Place the dry ingredients in a bowl, including the dried apricots. In a separate bowl beat the egg with the milk, cream and oil. Add to dry ingredients and mix gently. Do not over-mix or the muffins will be tough. Place in a well greased muffin tray. Bake at 200 °C for 15 minutes.

I’d sprinkle the top with some brown sugar or chopped almonds next time to add to the interest. They are subtly cinnamony and the apricot is quite tart.