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Buttermilk, Beetroot and Apple Muffins

























I saw some gorgeous muffins over at the Great Big Vegetable Challenge and was immediately intrigued. Charlotte, who has completed an A-Z of vegetables with her son Freddie has now moved on to healthy packed lunches for her children. Freddie is still marking dishes out of 10 and these muffins gained a massive 9 out of 10! That is recommendation enough for me.

I have converted Charlotte's recipe into cups, but it is essentially still Charlotte's recipe. I made no changes except for the buttermilk. I didn't have any, so I made some with milk and a tbsp of lemon juice, filled up to the quantity and then left for a few minutes to develop, as it were.


Buttermilk, Beetroot and Apple Muffins

1 egg, beaten
2/3 cup buttermilk (or milk and 1 tbsp lemon juice)
1/2 stick/4tbsp/50g butter, melted
1 eating apple, peeled, cored and finely diced
2 small beetroot, cooked and finely diced
1/2 cup Demerara sugar
1 tablespoon of maple syrup (or runny honey)
1 1/4 cups plain flour
1 and a half tsp of baking powder


For the topping

1 tablespoon of porridge oats
1 tablespoon of Demerara sugar
1 teaspoon of cinnamon


Preheat the oven to 180C. If you are using a deep muffin tray, cut out six squares of baking parchment 15 cms by 15 cms. Line each muffin tin with a square of paper. You can use paper cases if you prefer. Melt the butter, allow to cool slightly and in a bowl stir in the sugar, beaten egg and buttermilk. Mix well. Add the finely diced cooked beetroot and diced apple and spoon of maple syrup. Sieve the flour and baking powder and roughly stir in so the flour is distributed but don’t over mix. Spoon the mixture evenly into each lined muffin tin. Mix together the ingredients for the topping and sprinkle evenly over the top of each muffin.
Cook in the oven for 30 minutes.

Makes six large muffins or 12 smaller ones

We really enjoyed these muffins, but we both preferred the beetroot in these muffins, when they were still warm. I have since tried these without the beetroot and they are still great. I used the same recipe, but added more blueberries and some cinnamon to the muffins.

I encourage you to visit Charlotte's blog, which is packed with great recipes and some very amusing stories! Even better, buy a copy of her book - Great Big Veg Challenge: How to Get Your Children Eating Vegetables Happily. It is a beautifully produced book, that is a joy to flick through.

I am entering these muffins into Ruth's Kitchen Experiments. Ruth holds an event every Monday called Bookmarked Recipes .....where you can blog about a recipe you have bookmarked from a cook book, food magazine, food blog, food website or from TV and then make it and submit it to her weekly roundup.

Oh, I nearly forgot! I sprinkled these muffins with Angie's sugar topping. The most gorgeously aromatic sugar mix (another kind gift). I will post the recipe, once I have checked all the ingredients. Angie did tell me, but I was too busy sticking my nose in the tub and breathing deeply, to pay attention.

23 comments

  1. Those muffins look so moist and good! I would not have thought to use beets in muffins.

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  2. Gosh, these are really pretty. Really not a beetroot fan but I do like it in chocolate cake. Suspect it'd taste too beetrooty in a white sponge for me. Still, may make these just to look at! ;)

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  3. Mmm yum! I've made a chocolate beetroot cake and it was yummy and moist. these look delicious and the beetroot looks like berries! :) very clever ;)

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  4. As much as I love beetroot, I'm not sure about them in this context. I like your idea of adding e.g. blueberries and cinnamon instead.

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  5. I have seen loads of sweet baked goods with beetroot in recently - I really must try them. They look delish

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  6. Holler, that's a fab shot of the inside of the muffin...a rainbow of goodness!

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  7. Holler, those look great and sound so different. I'll have to give them a try. You're right The Great Big Veg Challenge is a brilliant blog and one of the first I followed regularly.

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  8. Wow - what beautiful-looking muffins. Like Wendy, I'm not really a beetroot fan but think I could perhaps handle it in muffin form!!

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  9. Love that photo! And beetroot goes so very, gorgeously well with chocolate in cakes so I'm definitely willing to try this myself. In fact I have beetroots in my fridge right now...

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  10. Wow. The muffins looks so tasty.

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  11. These look wonderful. I've bookmarked this recipe.

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  12. I would never have dreamt it up either Kevin.

    It does taste more beetrooty in these muffins Wendy, but quite sweet too.

    Chocolate beetroot cake is my very favourite chocolate cake Lorraine. I just can't see beyond it!

    Hi Spaghetti If you are not sure, then the blueberry and cinnamon version is a good one to try instead.

    I love beetroot Beth, so I am always tempted :)

    Thanks Peter, I was quite chuffed with it :)

    I agree with you Silvie, it is a great blog to follow!

    Why not try it in a chocolate muffin first Antonia, just to ease yourself into the idea.

    Thanks Pia :)

    Thank you Two Vegan Boys :)

    Glad you like it Jules :)

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  13. I saw that recipe too, and thought, "I have to try those!" Okay, you've both convinced me. :)

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  14. I'm yet to try beetroot in a cake - I so want to but my mind keeps screaming at me "it's beetroot, woman!"

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  15. Let me know what you think Ricki!

    Try this Chocolate and Beetroot Brownie Cake first CC and then there will be no going back! You will fall in love with it after the first slice!

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  16. Ooh, buttermilk is such an enticing word for a muffin name! I'm bookmarking this one!

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  17. Just brilliant! I am so making these!

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  18. Well fake buttermilk im my case Lysy :)

    I am glad you like them Lisa :)

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  19. These look delicious. It's always good to find new things for beetroot, and different varieties of muffins. Thanks for contributing to Bookmarked recipes!

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  20. Like Kevin, I would never have thought of adding beets to muffins either. But the muffins sure do look beautiful!

    I wonder what would happen if the beets were grated and added to the muffin mixture without being par-cooked first. Red muffins??

    -Elizabeth

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  21. brownies with beetroot and muffins with beetroot...who would have thunk it? But the more I think about it, the more it makes sense...beetroot is dense and sugary and mashes well. i'm not much of a cook, but i am a baker, and you've got me inspired...

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  22. These came out fantastically! Pink muffins and the family looked at me like I was nuts but they really loved them. Followed the recipe exactly however added some cinnamon in the main muffin mix as well!!
    Thank you!!

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    1. Cinnamon was a good idea Emily. I am glad they worked out well and you enjoyed them. I really appreciate you stopping by to let me know you enjoyed them. Jac :)

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I love reading comments, so thank you for taking the time to leave one. Unfortunately, I'm bombarded with spam, so I've turned on comment moderation. I'll publish your comments as soon as I can and respond to them. Don't panic, they will disappear when you hit publish. Jac x