I I
invented this recipe very recently. As the first
experimental lot were just ready to be taken out of the
oven I heard a loud thumping near the front of my house.
Going to investigate I found I had visitors - two Mormon
missionary boys. I did my usual spiel about us not
being a religious family and basically, but very politely,
told them their time would be wasted on me. It was a
very hot day, around 36 degrees Celsius and those two boys
looked hot and thirsty. Being the person I am, I
asked them if they would like a cold drink. .
They said they would love a drink of water. I invited
them in but they firstly had to ascertain if there was an
adult male in the house. When I replied in the
negative they said they were not permitted to come in.
Not to be thwarted I eventually got them to come and sit
around the back in our alfresco area where they smartly got
a cold drink, and of course, some muffins straight from the
oven.
I warned
the boys it was a new recipe and that they might not be
nice. The Mormon's insisted they were lovely and
assured me they weren't just being polite. So, here
you go:
To convert any of these ingredients into US measurements please
use this
Quantity Conversion
Chart.
Ingredients
2 cups self raising flour plus
2 tablespoons extra self raising flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 and 1/4 cups milk
3 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
6 firm fresh apricots
1/2 cup choc chips |
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Method:
Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
Remove the stones from the apricots and chop
them into pieces. Place them into a small bowl along with
the choc chips and the 2 tablespoons flour. Toss the
apricots and the choc chips to coat them well in the flour.
Set aside.
Beat the wet ingredients in a large bowl.
Add the self raising flour, sugar and the floury fruit/choc
mixture. Gently fold in together, preferable by hand with
a spatula scraping down the sides as you go.
Two-thirds fill
greased
muffins pans and bake for about 25 minutes until golden brown.
Makes 12 - 16 muffins depending on how big
your muffin tins are.
Notes:
The fruit and choc bits
are coated in flour to stop them sinking to the bottom of
the muffins.
In the photograph above
I used a mixture of white and milk chocolate.
Food Facts:
Apricots were first found growing wild in China. They have
been around for 4,000 years. Apricots are rich in beta carotene, minerals and vitamin A plus
they are a good source of fibre.
Eggs are one of the most
versatile forms of nourishment available.
Nutritionists recommend we eat a maximum of four
eggs per week, although a study by the Harvard
School of Public Health found that there is no
significant link between eating eggs and
developing cardiovascular disease in healthy
individuals. Most eggs sold today are infertile
because there are no roosters housed with the
laying hens. There are no nutritional
differences between fertile and infertile eggs.
Eggs contain all nine essential amino acids,
making them a complete protein food. An egg
shell has as many as 17,000 pores over its
surface. It is said that a mother hen turns over
her egg as many as 50 times per day. This is
done so that the yolk doesn't stick to the
inside of the shell. A fresh egg will sink in
water, but a stale one won't. White shelled
eggs are produced by hens with white feathers
and ear lobes. Brown shelled eggs are produced
by hens with red feathers and red ear lobes.
