Despite the many batches of cakes, muffins, biscuits and slices that I whip up in my home kitchen, my husband rarely eats any of them.  This takes great restraint, especially when the house is often filled with the aroma of something sticky, sweet and delicious being baked. It’s not because he isn’t tempted, he is simply very health conscious and luckily his tastebuds tend towards the more savoury dishes. He does however make an enthusiastic exception on special occasions, including Father’s Day.

I developed this recipe for Father’s Day Fruit and Spice Muffins to include all the fruits that my husband enjoys eating the most, along with a touch of dark chocolate. He is a huge fan of apples, oranges, bananas and blueberries with the first three readily available all year round. In fact he would rather eat a juicy orange or crisp apple than a ripe peach.
These muffins are robust and moist, with satisfying chunks of fresh fruit and ground ginger, along with a sprinkling of dark chocolate chips. Although I have baked this batch especially for Father’s Day, there is no need to wait another year to make another round because they are truly tasty! These would be wonderful served up for breakfast with yoghurt or a milky smoothie on the side or stuffed into school lunchboxes.

My husband, children and I enjoyed them for afternoon tea in the sunshine with my mother who is visiting from Perth and like all grandmothers has insisted on spoiling us all, including the family dog Tara. This loveable Springer Spaniel positioned herself perfectly under the outdoor tables and gobbled up stray pieces of muffin accidentally dropped by the littlest ones in our family. 

Father’s Day Fruit and Spice Muffins makes 16 large muffins

Ingredients
100 ml extra virgin light olive oil
3 large eggs
200 ml sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large mashed banana
1 large apple roughly grated
1 large orange – roughly grate the rind, then dice the inside orange flesh into small pieces
1 punnet fresh blueberries
125 g good quality dark chocolate chips
3/4 cup caster sugar
2 1/4 cups self raising flour
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees on a conventional setting. Put your muffin cases into the muffin pans. 

Put all the WET ingredients into a large mixing bowl and whisk together until smooth and combined. 

Add all of the fruit and chocolate chips and stir gently to combine using a mixing spoon. 

Put all of the DRY ingredients into the bowl and stir through until just combined. 

Spoon heaped tablespoonfuls into your muffin cases and bake in the oven for 25 minutes. 

Best easten warm with the juices of the fruit oozing out at every bite, although I imagine they would be fabulous when enjoyed at room temperature as well.