Yoghurt, oatmeal and fig breakfast muffins

The pursuit of a healthier diet has, for many years, languished at the murky, ink-splattered bedrock of my mental to-do list. 

Along with finding the perfect red lipstick and finishing The Female Eunuch , I refuse to write it off in the secret hope that one day, inspiration will seize me and I’ll wake up as Gwyneth Paltow.

Blessed as I am with a vocation that requires me to eat cake each day, the GOOP lifestyle is likely to remain out of reach for a while longer. Mockery aside, we'd have to have been hiding under a rock to have missed the revelation that breakfast is the foundation to it being, in Gwyneth's own words ‘all good’. If it’s true that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, I might be in some trouble.

And so a recipe for breakfast on the go. These muffins are so quick to throw together - and throwing together this truly is - and will last all week, packed as they are with fresh figs to keep them moist and delicious. They're also made using oatmeal, yoghurt and fruit, which totally justify the whole cake-for-breakfast concept. 

THE INGREDIENTS

50g unsalted butter

50g muscavado sugar

1 egg

175g natural yoghurt

100g oatmeal 

35g plain flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1/2 tsp salt

7-8 small figs 

2-3 tbsp honey

9 sprigs thyme (optional)

THE RECIPE

Heat your oven to 180°C / 160°C fan, and line a muffin tin with 9 muffin cases.

Melt the butter, then whisk with the muscavado sugar in a large bowl. Beat in the egg and the yoghurt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the oatmeal, plain flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and the salt. Whisk the dry ingredients into the wet, until the two are just incorporated. Divide the mixture among the cases. 

Clean and trim the figs, then cut 5 of them in half. Push a half a fig into each muffin. Slice the remaining figs, and place a slice or two on top of each muffin. Drizzle them with honey, and top with a sprig of thyme (if using). Bake in the centre of the oven for 20-25 minutes.