Banana Chocolate Chips and Mixed Berries Muffins

I was inspired to bake these muffins when I came across Sunsweet's Berry Blend at Tesco. I have a weakness for anything berries and cherries. They are so attractive.

Too bad these fruits are very expensive here. And these dried ones don't  come any cheaper at RM19.99 for a 142gram packet.

The muffins I baked have been adapted from Joy of Baking's Banana Muffins and Chocolate Chip Muffins recipe. That was where I first learnt to bake and I find it useful that there is a video demonstration for most of the recipes. And I like Stephanie Jaworski as she is pleasant and her instructions are clear and easy to follow especially for beginners like me.

Batter before baking. I like to sprinkle extras on top.

What I like about muffins is that you only need two mixing bowls, one for the wet and the other for the dry ingredients.   And there is no need for creaming of butter and sugar unlike cupcakes. And they don't need to be frosted, perfect for lazy me :) I tend to like mixing the sugar into the wet ingredient so that it dissolves and is more evenly distributed in the batter.

Just out of the oven.

Another thing I picked up is that using buttermilk produces fluffier muffins. So when I see a recipe that calls for milk, I substitute it with buttermilk, that is if I have it on hand. I get my buttermilk from Tesco but sometimes they are out of stock.

My favorite muffin is banana and chocolate chips because the combination of bananas and chocolate is simply delicious. And so I thought why not add some dried berries to jazz it up a bit. 

I liked the sweet and tangy taste the berries brought to the muffin and it complements the bananas and chocolate chips very well.

Banana Chocolate Chips and Mixed Berries Muffins

Recipe Source : Adapted from Joy of Baking

Makes 12 regular sized muffins.

Ingredients :

- 230grams self raising flour

- 1/2 cup chocolate chips (and some extra for topping)

- 1/2 cup dried mixed berries (and some extra for topping)

- 1/4 cup brown sugar

- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

- 2 large eggs, lightly beaten

- 1/2 cup grapeseed oil (or any vegetable oil)

- 1 cup buttermilk

- 2 medium sized bananas, mashed

- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method :

- Preheat oven to 180C (I use 160C)

- Line muffin pans with paper liners.

- In a mixing bowl add flour, chocolate chips and mixed berries. Stir to coat chocolate chips and mixed berries with flour (this will prevent them from sinking to the bottom of the batter)

- In another mixing bowl add sugar, ground cinnamon, eggs, grapeseed oil, buttermilk, mashed bananas and vanilla extract. Stir to mix.

- Pour the wet ingredients into the flour mixture and lightly fold until just combined. Do not over mix.

- Scoop batter into lined muffin pans and top with extra chocolate chips and dried berries.

- Bake for about 20 to 25 minutes.

Note : Check at 20 minutes by inserting a toothpick into center of muffin. If it comes out clean it is done but if there is batter sticking to it, continue baking and check every 2 minutes to prevent over baking. My muffins were done after 22 minutes.

I stashed a few of the muffins in the freezer for later. Would be convenient when I get a snack attack. Just pop them from the freezer into the microwave and zap for 1 minute or more.

Very moist and tatsy.