Muffin Madness

Over the last month I have made several rounds of muffins which are great for speedy breakfasts or guilt free snacking. They are moist, filling and seem to suit any ingredients changes I throw at them.

The basic recipe I've been playing around with is one which I blogged in September last year:

http://eyesbiggerthanmybelly.blogspot.com/2009/09/back-to-school.html

I made a batch just after Christmas (recipe 1) when we had some pathetic looking carrots languishing in the bottom drawer of the fridge: this time however I grated the carrots instead of boiling and mashing them as:
1) that boiling and mashing them was far too much hassle and created more washing up and...
2) they've got to keep more of their nutrients if they're only cooked once, right?
I also used rolled oats in place of some of the flour and cranberries instead of the pineapple chunks.

The results were great and even better was the fact that they could be devoured by my lactose intolerant God Daughter.

The second batch I made when we had 2 bananas left over from pack lunches which were more black than yellow (recipe 2). So I whisked up a batch of muffins and took the opportunity to use up a bag of pecans which were nearing their sell by date. However in my haste and baking frenzy I added ground ginger to the mixture instead of ground cinnamon, surprisingly they tasted no worse for it!

I've got another batch of carrot and cranberry muffins in the oven now - this time i've used muffin cases instead of fiddling around cutting baking parchment into squares and forcing it into the muffin trays which was akin to wrestling an octopus. I also had to improvise with plain flour and bicarb of soda as i've run out self raising. It doesn't seem to have affected the outcome; these muffins are just great for adapting to what ever you have in your cupboards.

Carrot and cranberry muffins (Recipe 1)
140g self raising flour
30g wholemeal flour
a pinch of salt
55g rolled oats (plus a little extra to scatter on top of the muffins)
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 tsp ground cinnamon
150ml sunflower oil
100g golden caster sugar
2 carrots, grated
100g dried cranberries
2 tbsp fruit juice (orange works well)
1 egg
1tsp vanilla extract

1) Pre heat the oven to 200 oC or 180 oC for a fan oven
2) Line a 12 hole muffin tin with muffin cases or squares of non stick baking parchment
3) Sift together the flours, add the salt, bicarb, cinnamon and oats.
4) In another bowl beat the oil with the caster sugar and add the grated carrots, cranberries, fruit juice, egg and vanilla extract.
5) Fold the dry mix into the wet one
6) Spoon the mix into the muffin cases and add a pinch of oats to the top of each muffin
7) Bake in the oven for 20 - 25 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.


Banana, Pecan and Ginger Muffins (recipe 2)
140g self raising flour
30g wholemeal flour
a pinch of salt
55g rolled oats (plus a little extra to scatter on top of the muffins)
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 tsp ground ginger
150ml sunflower oil
100g golden caster sugar
2 bananas, mashed
200g pecans, broken into small pieces
2 tbsp honey
1 egg
1tsp vanilla extract

1) Pre heat the oven to 200 oC or 180 oC for a fan oven
2) Line a 12 hole muffin tin with muffin cases or squares of non stick baking parchment
3) Sift together the flours, add the salt, bicarb, ground ginger and oats.
4) In another bowl beat the oil with the caster sugar and add the mashed bananas, pecans, honey, egg and vanilla extract.
5) Fold the dry mix into the wet one
6) Spoon the mix into the muffin cases and add a pinch of oats to the top of each muffin
7) Bake in the oven for 20 - 25 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.