Muesli Muffins - Breakfast Time!

Breakfast is pretty much my favorite meal of the day, but it’s my least favorite to cook. It’s the whole waking up getting ready and then like dude I have to cook something I just want food ready for me to eat so I can eat and go.

These muffins are easy to throw together and take like 15 minutes to bake. So, maybe not quick quick but it’s less faff, as they say in England. (Faff is taking your time and messing about.)

With these you get up mix them up, put them in the oven and then go get dressed and other morning rituals by the time you’re down with that they are ready!

Not all muffins are created equal. I’m not going to go on about how muffins can be healthy because lets face it some muffins are just cupcakes without frosting.

These ones, however, have a mix of white and wholemeal flour and only 75g of sugar divided by the amount of muffins. It’s quite low compared to other muffins. Of course you’ll have to look at the sugar in your choice of muesli and raisins and include that too, but it’s probably going to be minimal.

Not only are they easy to make, but they taste great too. Eat them warm out of the oven or the next day with a blast in the microwave!

Muesli Muffins

50g self-raising flour
75g wholemeal flour
2 tsp baking powder
100g, muesli of your choice
50g sultanas
75g light muscovado sugar
100ml sunflower oil
1 egg
150ml milk

Heat the oven to 200C and line the cupcake/muffin tin with 9 paper liners.
Sift both of the flours into a mixing bowl and mix in the baking powder, muesli, sultanas, and sugar.
In a jug mix the oil, egg, and milk.
Pour the wet into the dry ingredients and gently mix until just combined.
Divide into the paper cases and bake for 15 minutes.
Serve immediately with butter and coffee!

notes: adapted from Felicity Barnum-Bobb's 100 Magnificent Muffins & Scones - currently out of print but a few used copies available on amazon.

Five on Friday: My Five Favorite ways to use Eggs

Eggs!

Where would I be if it weren't for eggs?

Pretty much everything I make has eggs in it. Sometimes just the whites and sometimes just the yolks, but they are there.

It is therefore important where your eggs come from. I always choose free range or cage free eggs. 

Sainsbury's believe it is important for food sources to be happy. 

I couldn't agree more!

The happier they are the happier our food tastes. True story.

The thing I love most about Sainsbury's eggs, besides being free range, is that they sell a mix sizes box! I always need various sizes of eggs for baking and cooking! 

So, here are my top five ways I love to eat eggs!

1. Hollandaise Sauce for Eggs Benedict:

3 large cage free eggs
240g of unsalted butter
½ a lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste

Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites, place the yolks in a heat proof bowl and set a top a simmering pot of water. Don’t let the bowl touch the water. Add just a small splash of water to the egg yolks and stir gently as it heats. Divide the butter into 12 cubes, and then add 4 cubes to the egg yolks. Whisk the eggs slowly but firm until it’s just incorporated. Continue to whisk the rest of the butter in. When it’s incorporated add a squeeze of the lemon. It should look a little like custard. Add some salt and pepper to taste. Turn off the heat and leave it to set for about a half an hour whisking here and there. Then just pray it doesn’t curdle! Good Luck!

For Eggs Benedict: Toast an English muffin, top with ham, salmon, bacon etc…then a poached egg then some hollandaise sauce. Enjoy!

2. Meringues 

Use the leftover egg whites from your hollandaise sauce or the lemon curd to make meringues! They are the perfect accompaniment to many desserts and taste delicious on their own. The recipe I use is here!

3. Curd, Lemon

My first attempt at lemon curd didn't turn out so well, but that’s okay. Because if you don’t at first succeed try try again! To see how I got on check it out here! I find it quite satisfying when I finally make something successfully!  

4. Frittata

Basically a frittata is an egg cake. I always cut ours into cake slices because it’s super easy to eat that way! My girls love having a frittata for dinner. The one I make most often is the spinach and sweet potato one in Jamie Oliver’s Save with Jamie book. One time I made it with Duck eggs and it was super fluffy! 

5. Cake! Brownies! Cookies!

Everything I bake pretty much uses eggs. Eggs add richness and sometimes fluffiness to cakes and other baked goods. So, to answer the above question where would I be without eggs? I’d be without cake, a blog, and my favorite breakfast(s)!!

What are your favorite ways to eat eggs?

notes: In association with Sainsburys; please see my contact/policy page for more information. Hollandaise recipe adapted from Nigel Slater's Appetite

Re-Living the Magic of the Marshmallow Puff

Pinterest is my second favorite social media site. It has given my blog more views then any other site.

Magic Marshmallow Puffs were my first viral pin on Pinterest! It had 4 re-pins!

No joke - after that it spread like wild fire, becoming my most viewed post for months.

That was 2 years ago.

Recently I have been looking back at older posts to see how far I've come and the magic marshmallow puffs just stood out and I realized they had a lot of potential to be more! 

I remember the first time I found Jus-Rol's Croissants, I was so excited that I bought like 4 of them, it was just something I had missed from home. 

It was difficult to decide there is so many different things that could be added besides the classic cinnamon and sugar combo! 

Here is a list of my ideas: 

• a teaspoon of homemade butterscotch and marshmallow
• 1 Cadbury Mini Cream Egg and marshmallow 
• 1 Rolo or Munchie and marshmallow 
• a teaspoon of jam/marmalade and marshmallow 
• a teaspoon of Nutella or Lotus Spread and marshmallow 
• a square of chocolate, a golden graham, and marshmallow (S’more puff)
• a teaspoon of pie filling and marshmallow
• a teaspoon each of peanut butter and jam and marshmallow (PB&J sandwich puff)

I went with the Cadbury Mini Cream Egg and the homemade butterscotch and it did not disappoint. 

Magic Marshmallow Puffs (re-visited)

1 pkg of Jus Rol Croissants (6 croissants)

6 marshmallows 

3 Cadbury Mini Creme Eggs

3 tsp of homemade butterscotch

Lightly grease 6 cups of a muffin pan and preheat the oven to 190C/350F. 

Unroll the triangles, place a marshmallow and other filling (in this case a Mini Cream Egg and a teaspoon of butterscotch) in the middle of the triangle and fold the points up.
Place them seam side up in the prepared muffin pan. 

Bake for 10-12 minutes.

You could add a frosting if you'd like. I don't think these ones needed it, as they were sweet enough! They are really like magic as they are effortless and delicious!

Jus-Rol sells all sorts of different pre-made pastry that takes the stress out of being creative with flavors and experimenting!

notes: In association with Jus-Rol. See my contact/policy page for further information. In the USA these croissants are the same as Pillsbury's Crescent Rolls. Are you on Pinterest? Follow me and I’ll follow you back!