Low G.I., low fat, full of antioxidants, minerals and fibre, great for a wholesome and nutritious ‘breakfast on the go’ or as a pre-exercise energy boost before a lunchtime or evening workout.

These muffins are a wonderful excuse to eat cake for breakfast. They could be filled with any variety of fruit or dried fruit and nuts. The secret is to make them quickly and to avoid overmixing.

If you do overmix, the muffin goes rather chewy and tough, so just fold the wet ingredients into the dry until they are just combined and then pop them into the over.

These muffins contain only a small amount of sugar as the dates add enough sweetness. By all means add a little extra sugar if you refer a sweeter muffin with your morning cup of coffee. My kids like these muffins served warm with butter and honey as part of a Sunday brunch or after school.

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More recipes on Sportsister:

Recipe: Linguini with mussels

Recipe: Creamy risotto of broad beans, mint and pancetta

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This recipe is taken from Go Faster Food by Kate Percy.

Nutrition per serving

Energy (kcal) 286

Carbohydrate (g) 35

Of which sugars (g) 17

Salt (g) 0.4

Protein (g) 6

Fat (g) 14

Of which saturates (g) 2.5

Fibre (g) 2

Makes 12 muffins

Prep time – 5 minutes/ Cooking time – 15-20 minutes

For the muffins

150g white self-raising flour

150g wholemeal self-raising flour

Pinch of salt

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

80g soft brown sugar

½ tsp ginger

½ tsp cinnamon

75g Chopped walnuts

120g dates, chopped

2 eggs

90ml vegetable oil

1 tbsp runny honey

80ml semi-skimmed or skimmed milk

80ml low-fat natural yoghurt

For the cinnamon streusel topping

1 tbsp Demerara sugar

1 tbsp plain flour

½ tsp cinnamon

25g butter, softened

1. Preheat the oven to 180oC/ gas mark 4. Line a muffin tray with 12 muffin cases
2. Make the cinnamon streusel topping: mix together the sugar, flour and cinnamon and then add the butter and rub in with your fingers until you have a crumbly mixture. Set aside to sprinkle on top before the muffins go in the oven.
3. Mix the white and wholemeal flour, salt, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, sugar and spices together.
4. Add the walnuts and dates and combine.
5. Break the eggs into a separate bowl and add the oil, honey, milk and yoghurt.
6. Beat very lightly with a fork then pour the mixture into the bowl with the dry ingredients and combine quickly. The mixture will appear lumpy, but don’t worry, just spoon it into the muffin cases, sprinkle the cinnamon streusel on top and pop into the oven for 15-20minutes. They will rise and turn golden brown.
7. Cool on a wire rack and eat immediately.

Kate Percy, Sportsister
The Women’s Sports Magazine

As an experienced marathon runner and cook, Kate is passionate about the link between healthy eating and better athletic performance. Her work has been published in specialist sports magazines, the national press and on sports websites and her new book, Go Faster Food, offers advice for athletes, serious or recreational, on how to to eat for optimal training, racing and recovery and puts nutritional theory into good practice with hundreds of delicious, imaginative and energy-boosting recipes.

Go Faster Food, has been endorsed by Olympic Champion Rebecca Romero, MBE, and double Olympian Liz Yelling and is published by Vermilion. It is available on Amazon, in all good bookstores and on Kate’s website www.gofasterfood.com.

Sportsister readers can buy Kate Percy’s Go Faster Food (£12.99) for the special price of £10.99 incl free UK p&p. To order please call 01206 255 800 and quote the ref ‘Sportsister’.