Sweet Freedom Blueberry Muffins

As you probably already know, I am diabetic so very seldom eat sweet treats. But when I DO, I usually make them with Sweet Freedom instead of sugar. Widely available in most supermarkets,  it is a sweetener made from 100% fruit, with 25% fewer calories than sugar and a low GI rating which makes it much more diabetes-friendly than sugar. It comes in two varieties, dark which is intended for cooking and light which is intended for sweetening drinks and porridge, but I like to use both kinds both ways.  There are lots of recipes for using it on the Sweet Freedom website.

I was sent a bottle to test - not really necessary as I'm already a big fan! -  and decided to see if it would work in Blueberry Muffins. I was worried that the syrupy consistency in place of normal sugar might mean the mixture would be too sloppy and not cook through properly, but as you can see, this didn't turn out to be the case.

so, here is the recipe

SWEET FREEDOM BLUEBERRY MUFFINS

250g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
a pinch of salt
1 egg
125 ml skimmed milk
125 ml Sweet Freedom syrup
60 ml sunflower or rapeseed oil
125g fresh blueberries

This quantity should make 12, but I made 10 from it because I like having big muffins (fnarr fnarr.....).

Prepare your muffin tin by greasing it or spraying with non-stick spray (in case of spillages) and putting paper muffin cases in the holes, and pre-heat the oven to 190 degrees C.

Sieve together the flour, baking powder and salt into a large bowl. In another bowl, beat the egg then blend in the milk, Sweet Freedom and oil.

Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients, then working quickly but gently, tip the liquid mixture into the well and fold together until just blended, then gently stir in the blueberries. Spoon into the paper cases  and bake in the pre-heated oven for about 17 minutes, until risen and golden.

Try to wait for them to cool down a bit before you eat them or you'll burn your mouth on a burst blueberry (don't ask me how I know that).

Back from holiday

I've not posted for a while as I've been away on holiday, on what should have been a dream cruise along the Danube. Unfortunately the Danube experienced severe flooding a few days before our trip, yet the tour company told us the holiday would go ahead with only minor changes. This turned out to be totally incorrect - the river was impassable and after several days spent moored in Budapest while the various people in charge argued about what to do, we were sent home five days early, having not really had any holiday at all.

I'll be writing more about the trip later, once I've caught up with all the phone calls and emails that I now need to send to the company!

Jane