Category: Quick breads

Yet another courgette (zucchini) recipe! Why, you ask? It’s too early for garden glut. I have signed up for a veg box delivery service to help us eat more vegetables in the winter. There’s a couple of purple cabbage recipes on the way as well. Guess what there’s a lot of in the veg box – oh yes, courgettes.

This is a quick bread recipe, so raised with baking powder and baking soda, not yeast. I used buttermilk (full fat obvs) for my recipe but any fermented milk product will probably do the trick; Greek yoghurt, creme fraiche, sour cream. There’s no butter or oil in the recipe so it does need the fat from the dairy products to achieve a good texture. Keep an eye on consistency, I found this batter relatively dry. If yours is too dry to spread in the pans, thin it out with milk.

You can also be flexible with the herbs: I used dried basil and dried chives because that’s what I had in the cupboard. You can also try some garlic or add in a handful of finely chopped spring onions.

One ‘must’ with this recipe – use small (1 pound) loaf pans and line them with parchment or purchased paper liners. Otherwise – a sticky mess and possibly new pans in your future. Also, try disposable miniature loaf pans for single portions, reduce the cooking time. My recipe made 3 modest small loaves, you could possibly cram the batter into 2 small pans.

Let’s get cooking.

Recipe

Ingredients

450 grams of courgettes (2 medium)

1 tsp sea salt

125 grams of plain white flour

125 grams of whole wheat flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda (sodium bicarbonate)

1/2 tsp sea salt

2 tablespoons dried chives

2 tablespoons dried basil

150 grams cheddar cheese

3 large eggs

170 grams buttermilk (3/4 cup)

Instructions

1. Grate the courgettes, add the teaspoon of sea salt, stir through, put in a colander in the sink and drain out the liquid. Leave for at least 30 minutes. When you’re ready to cook the recipe, put the courgettes in a clean tea towel and squeeze out the remaining liquid. Put to one side.
2. Preheat the over to 180C (350F). Needs a lower temperature and a longer cooking time to bake through.
3. Grate the cheese, put to one side.
4. In a large bowl, mix together all of the dry ingredients (flours, baking powder, baking soda, remaining salt) until well combined.
5. Add the shredded courgettes to the dry ingredients, it should look like the individual shreds are coated with flour.
6. Add the basil and chives (and any other spices of your choice) and the grated cheddar, combine with your hands or a baking whisk.
7. Beat together the eggs and buttermilk, in a separate bowl.
8. Fold the buttermilk and eggs into the dry mixture. As with any quick bread – do not beat or overstir, just until its combined. Makes it tough.
9. Using your trigger scoop, fill your prepared pans about 2/3 to 3/4 full. If you’ve gone for fuller pans, line a baking sheet and put them on that. Unless you like cleaning your oven, you’ll be glad you did this.
10. Bake for an hour in the lower part of the oven, if using 1 pound loaf pans, 45 minutes if using smaller loaf casings. It seems like a along time, but it’s a thick batter and needs the time to cook through. If the tops look too brown, cover with a piece of foil but don’t undercook.
11. Cool completely before removing. Lovely with just butter. We also toasted and had with our boiled eggs in the morning.

Thank you for reading the blog and trying the recipes. Let me know how it went in the comments below or on social media @mamadolson on Twitter and Instagram.

What’s best thing to do with excess ripe bananas? Make banana bread! My recipe is based on this original from Hannah at Make it Dough. I’ve made some adjustments to use whole wheat flour and brown sugar and reduced the amount of sugar as well. That made my version a bit heavier so I went with a traditional loaf shape. It’s the Davinator’s new top snack – combines 3 of his favourites: bananas, peanut butter and chocolate.

I pounced on this recipe because I was ‘long’ on bananas and on peanut butter. I don’t really like the texture of bananas but this bread has a great banana taste, seemingly enhanced by the peanut butter. We try and eat healthy but like our treats, so this recipe is a good compromise.

You can use sourdough discard in this recipe or there is an easy alternative if you’re not a sourdough fanatic.

Let’s get baking.

Recipe

Ingredients

• 95 grams all purpose flour (not self rising)
• 95 grams whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp baking soda – SODA not powder
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 85 grams peanut butter of your choice (chunky or smooth)
• 55 grams unsalted butter – melted and slightly cooled
• 180 grams brown sugar (any type)
• 50 grams sourdough discard or 25 grams flour and 25 grams of water)
• 25 grams of milk (whole or semi-skimmed)
• 2 eggs
• 225 grams of mashed banana (2 large or 3 medium bananas)
• 1 tsp of vanilla
• Handful of chocolate chips or chopped nuts of your preference

Method

1. Preheat the oven 170C (160C fan) or 350F. Prepare a loaf pan (standard 2 pound or 800 gram pan). I line my pans with paper but you can grease and flour instead.
2. Whisk together the flours, salt and baking soda in a medium bowl.
3. Combine the peanut butter, cooled melted butter and the sugar in your mixer bowl. Beat until mixture appears very well combined.
4. Incorporate the eggs one at time, beating until well integrated.
5. Add the mashed banana, sourdough discard (or flour and water mixture) and the vanilla to the mixer bowl and beat until well combined.
6. Using a dough whisk or a spatula, fold in half the flour mixture. Add the milk and the remaining flour. Like any quick bread – resist the temptation to over beat at this stage. Scrape up all the dry bits from the bottom.
7. Sprinkle your chocolate chips or nuts on the top. I pressed down gently to encourage them to sink into the top. They still form a sort of chocolate topping, which we loved.
8. Pour into your pan and transfer to the oven. Bake for approximately 50 minutes. Keep an eye on the top and cover loosely with foil if over browning. Test with a temperate probe – it should be over 90C in the centre or a toothpick should come out clean.

Enjoy! We topped ours with cream cheese or a couple of spoonfuls of Greek yogurt.

Thanks for reading the blog, cooking the recipes and sending in your requests.

Every recipe has a story. Readers will know that I volunteer weekly at Smartworks (pre-Corona virus hiatus any way). I bring baked goods every Wednesday for the staff, the clients and my fellow volunteers. We have a Wednesday team that does ‘wardrobe’. We have the pleasure of sorting, sizing, hanging and steaming the many wonderful donations from private donors and corporate partners.

Occasionally, I ask the Smartworks team for baking ‘requests’. And one of the Wednesday team, the lovely Daryl, asked for chocolate cheesecake muffins. Never made them before so perused blogs and internet recipe sites. They are an American thing (Daryl, like me, is an American in the UK) but I was looking for a recipe that used weight and metric measurements. Follow Daryl on Instagram here. I can convert from volume to weight but American recipes can call for ingredients that I don’t like to use and tend to be too sweet. I found a recipe here on Allrecipes.co.uk that served as a good base although I tweaked the sugar and the prep instructions a bit.

And thus a classic recipe was added to my repertoire. These muffins are vote winners and relationship builders any place you take them. A couple of bonuses – can be whipped together in a hour or so. And I get to use the 24 cup muffin tin I brought home from America. The recipe makes 18 to 24 nice sized muffins; you could halve it or you could make 12 big ones and then some mini ones. Adjust the baking temperature and time down if you decide to make small ones.

A few tips: first use Philadelphia cream cheese if you can find it. I don’t know what they put in that stuff but it gives the best texture. It also works with Waitrose basic cream cheese and really expensive organic stuff but Philly is easiest to work with. Second, if you’re a regular reader you know my views on chocolate. Use the best quality cocoa powder and chocolate chips you can afford. it makes a difference. Finally, I use a piping bag to fill the muffin tins. Once you get the hang of it – it’s a time saver and it keeps your tin tidy.

Everyone say ‘thank you Daryl’ now and move on to the recipe.

Recipe

Ingredients

Cream cheese filling

• 225g cream cheese
• 1 egg
• 50 grams caster (granulated) sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt

Chocolate batter

• 200 grams plain flour
• 175 grams caster sugar
• 60 grams unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 250ml water
• 75ml vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon plain vinegar (distilled malt or white vinegar)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

170 grams dark chocolate chips.

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 180C (160C fan). Prep your muffin tins (makes 18 to 24) I use paper liners in my muffin tins and give them a quick spray of coconut oil. You can go without the spray oil but I would not do these in an unlined tin even if you grease and flour.
2. Beat together the ingredients for the cream cheese filling. Put to one side.
3. Sift together the dry ingredients for the chocolate batter: flour, sugar, cocoa powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt.
4. Combine the water, vegetable oil, vinegar and vanilla extract. Mix into the dry ingredients. The batter will appear very thin.
5. Fill a piping bag with the chocolate batter and carefully pipe each muffin tin about one third full. There’s usually too much batter for one bag so use a second one or clip the first one closed with a binder clip (you know those annoying black clips that we used for paper documents). See this video of me filling the tins. I’m working on doing better videos – with narration for one. Bear with me.
6. Fill another piping bag with the cream cheese filling. Pipe a couple of tablespoons on the top of each chocolate batter base. I do one squeeze of the bag all the way around and then circle back to those that look less full.
7. We haven’t forgotten the chocolate bits. Drop 6 or so in the cream cheese filling of each muffin tin. I know this seems fiddly and it’s fine if one or two end up in the chocolate part but it’s the best way to evenly distribute them
8. Put your tin or tins in the oven for 30 minutes, then test for doneness.
9. Remove from the oven and let the muffins cool in the tins for 5 minutes, then remove. If you let them cool completely in the muffin tins the edges can harden.

Enjoy! Thanking you for subscribing, for reading the blog and for baking the recipes. It’s a labour of love – I have no hope of monetisation but it’s fun for me. Please send requests, comments, etc.

Happy Baking.

This is an updated version of a previous post. Working through my store cupboard of less well used ingredients.

Everyone (well every American cook) is likely to have a can of pumpkin rattling around in the cupboard and god only knows how old it might be. If you don’t have canned or tinned then you can make this recipe with just about any squash except courgette (zucchini to los Americanos).

Oven bake the squash – split, remove seeds, brush surfaces with vegetable oil and roast until soft. Then scrape the inside out and weigh. One butternut squash should make about the right amount. Or peel, seed, cut into chunks and boil until soft. Drain and mash. You don’t need exactly the ‘right’ amount. If you’re within 20% plus or minus you should still be okay.

Don’t have the ‘right’ ingredients in your cupboard? Here are some flex suggestions and there’s a vegan version also.

Flour: any old plain wheat flour will do. Not self rising but white or whole wheat and any mixture of those. I also mixed in 10% by weight of potato flour.

Sugar: any brown sugar will do, even those dried up lumps you’ve found in the cupboard. You can reduce the sugar by 25% and still get a great result.

Spices: use what you have, spices add to the complexity of the flavour but not the basic taste or structure.

Nuts, raisins, chocolate: any or all can be omitted. Any dried fruit can be used, cut into raisin sized chunks. I didn’t use any chocolate in the version pictured here.

Vegan version:
– use 1/2 mashed ripe banana per egg,
– use vegetable shortening (trex or crisco) in same quantity
– reduce sugar by 20%

This is a straightforward ‘quick’ bread designed to use one can of pumpkin adapted from a King Arthur recipe. Depending on what pans you have:

• 3 x one pound loaves (small loaf pan, 400gms).
• 1 x two pound loaf (large loaf pan) and 1 x one pound loaf
• 2 x one pound loaves and 6 to 9 muffins.

Recipe

Ingredients

• 340 grams whole wheat flour (I used 60 grams of potato flour and 280 gram of mixed quality whole wheat flour)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 3/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 170 grams unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
• 320 grams brown sugar (light or dark)
• 70 grams caster sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 can of pumpkin puree (Not pumpkin pie filling) or (400 grams of cooked pureed squash of your choice)
• 115 grams of chopped nuts (walnut or pecan)
• 170 grams of ‘mix in’ I used raisins but any dried fruit chopped to the right size will do. Substitute a portion for chocolate chips for a decadent effect.

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 170C (350f) if making smaller loaves or muffins. 180C if making larger loaves. Prep your loaf pans or muffin tins – I use paper liners for my loaf pans as well as muffin tins.
2. Chop the nuts and fruit. Combine with the chocolate chips if using. Put to one side.
3. Combine the butter and the sugars. This can be done by hand but easier in the mixer. Beat in the eggs one at a time, scraping the bowl to ensure everything is combined. Then beat in the vanilla and the pumpkin or squash.
4. Whisk the dry ingredients together: flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg.
5. Stir your fruit, nuts and chocolate chips into the dry ingredients. Coating them with flour seems to distribute them more evenly throughout the batter.
6. Add the dry ingredients in three batches to the butter/sugar mix. Don’t over beat, but make sure all the dry ingredients are moistened.
7. Put the batter in your prepared pans. I like to use a trigger ice cream scoop, this batter does not pour well.
8. A large loaf will need an hour in the oven. Small loaves about 45 minutes and a muffin tin 35 minutes. Check the temperature – should be above 90C. The bread or muffins should look ‘dry’ across the top.
9. Take the bread out of the oven and place the pan or pans on the rack to cool for 15 minutes. Then remove from the pans and allow to cool completely.

And then enjoy. We like to eat this for breakfast with cream cheese. Please let me know if you’re baking the recipes. Thanks for reading, following, sharing. Happy baking.

Dark delicious chocolate courgette loaf cake.

This recipe is for a good friend of mine who insists ‘I can’t cook’. This banana bread recipe is made with whole wheat flour and walnuts and has a lovely depth of flavour. And if you can’t cook – your five year old should be able to make this bread (with appropriate adult supervision). It’s a great introduction to the joy of whole grain baking.

We’re back to my retirement quest – cooking every recipe in the King Arthur Whole Grain Baking cookbook. As a quest, it’s completely lacking in organisation and I’m randomly skipping through the book and baking what looks good. Today I was inspired by a request for ‘recipes for someone who doesn’t cook’ and the Davinator’s excess banana purchases. This banana bread recipe is best with the ultra-ripe about to be thrown away bananas – you know that icky black mottled soft to the touch banana. If your bananas aren’t ripe enough, put them in a brown paper back with an apple. Fold the top of the bag closed and leave it overnight. This should convert a ripe banana to an ultra-ripe one.

Basically, the spotty banana to the left is just about ripe enough but if you can bear it – ripen it until more black than yellow. (I forgot to take pictures of the ultra-ripe bananas before I peeled and mashed them). Enough musings on bananas – on to the recipe.

Recipe

Ingredients

• 60 grams (2 ounces) chopped walnuts
• 110 grams (4 ounces) unsalted butter
• 105 grams (3.75 ounces) brown sugar (light or dark)
• 3/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking SODA not baking powder)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 340 – 350 grams (12 ounces) ripe mashed banana (4 or 5 normal sized European bananas – 3 or 4 normal sized American ones)
• 85 grams (3 ounces) honey
• 2 large eggs
• 230 grams (8 ounces) whole wheat flour

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 170C (160C fan) or 350F. Prep your loaf pan or pans. I use two small (450 gram) (1 pound) loaf pans and line them with paper. If you’re using a single loaf pan it needs to be a genuine 9 x 5 or 900 gram (2 pound) pan. I prefer to line with paper but you can also lightly grease with butter.
2. Microwave the butter for about 45 seconds in a microwave safe bowl. Set it to one side.
3. Chop the walnuts. I go back and forth on chopping nuts. This is a small quantity and both taste and texture say ‘chop by hand’. Leave ready in a small bowl.
4. Peel the bananas and mash with a fork or a potato masher.
5. Combine the butter, sugar, soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla. Beat well by hand.
6. Add the bananas, honey and eggs, stir well to incorporate into a smooth batter.
7. Add the flour and the chopped nuts and again stir until smooth.
8. Divide between the loaf pans. If using two – you want about 480 to 490 grams of batter in each pan.
9. Two loaves – bake for 40 minutes. At about 30 minutes check the loaves and if they seem too brown on the top, cover loosely with foil. Using your trusty thermometer – the internal temperature should be around 85C.
10. One loaf – bake for 50 minutes. At about 35 minutes check the loaf and cover with foil if the top is looking brown and dry.

This bread smells absolutely delicious when cooking. Try and let it cool before cutting. Enjoy and bake on!

Recipe #2 from from Chapter 2 ‘Quick Breads’ , King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking.

I made this recipe three times. Came out much the same each time. I have concluded I don’t like corn muffins. I shouldn’t be surprised by this because I don’t really like polenta, grits or corn bread. I’ll eat corn tortillas, corn chips and corn on the cob but apparently baked goods with corn meal are not my thing. However, I’ve mastered the recipe and share it for the sake of completeness. And for those readers who might like corn meal baked goods.

Important – corn meal is the yellow stuff. Corn starch or corn flour (UK) are white and primarily used as thickening agents. This recipe calls for corn meal. You might struggle to find it in your local supermarket but as always – the internet is your friend. Buy one bag, you may find yourself not a big fan of corn meal.

The Davinator (never met a baked good he didn’t eat) liked these and I ate them also although he did compare their texture to scones. My second and third attempts produced a fluffier outcome – less dense, more muffin like – but the taste has remained constant. I’ve modified the original recipe and it’s below with my adjustments. In both metric and imperial measurements.

No mocking but I did use a piping bag to fill the muffin cups because I wanted to make some mini-muffins, much better for taking to my charity job at Smart Works. A muffin small enough to eat in one bit is guilt free after all.

Ingredients

170 grams (6 ounces) – unsalted butter, melted

190 grams (6 3/4 ounces) – white flour

275 grams (9 3/4 ounces) – whole yellow cornmeal

50 grams (1 3/4 ounces) – caster sugar (granulated)

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon baking powder

2 large eggs

340 mls (12 ounces) – milk

50 grams (3 tablespoons) – honey

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 200C (180 fan) (400F). Melt the butter and have ready.
2. Prepare your muffin tin – this makes a dozen normal sized muffins or 6 normal sized and a dozen mini muffins.
3. Whisk together the sugar, flour, cornmeal , baking powder and salt in your mixing bowl.
4. Using the beater attachment, turn the mixer on and add the butter as the mixer is going.
5. Do the same with the milk and the honey.
6. Beat the eggs in one at a time, don’t overbeat.
7. Fill the piping bag. Or use your ice cream trigger scoop and fill the muffin tins.
8. Normal sized muffins need 20 to 23 minutes in the oven. 12 minutes is sufficient for the mini muffins.

These are nice with butter and jam (what isn’t when you think about it) but also good with peanut butter and or Nutella. Bake away and enjoy.

It’s still January (just barely). I’m back to the King Arthur Whole Grain Baking quest after a busy and tumultuous holiday season. Also, I started my non-exec and ‘consulting’ job. But that’s in my parallel universe. Here, it’s all about that bread.

I was trying to be methodical and start at the beginning of the cookbook but I fell at the first fence. The first chapter is ‘breakfast’. It’s essentially pancakes, waffles, crepes and granola. The problem here is that the Davinator prefers savoury breakfast – unless it’s a croissant and then he’s all over it with the butter and jam. So, I parked the first chapter until I have keener ‘consumers’. Maybe pancake day…..

I’ve jumped to the quick bread chapter which has twelve muffin recipes. And decided I must go in strict order. So, it’s ‘Sour Cream Muffins’ to start. Here we go.

I have, however, a couple of minor criticisms of the KA Whole Grain Baking cookbook.

The first is that in their quest to make whole grain taste good, the recipes call for an array of specialised ingredients. A few of these are practically impossible to find in the UK – so if I can’t get it, I’m assuming readers will be unable to source. I’ve decided to ‘substitute’ those difficult ingredients. If substitution doesn’t work, I’ll punt on those recipes until I can get my hands on the real thing. One thing I couldn’t find -‘white whole wheat flour’. I tried a mix of white and whole wheat flour and that came out fine in this recipe.

The second is that the recipes are tailored to American taste buds. After I’ve made them the first time, I start reducing the sugar. In some recipes, I’ve cut the sugar by 1/3. I’m careful with this because sugar also affects the basic chemistry of baked goods, beyond making it sweet.

I made these muffins with frozen blueberries and I suspect they would be fine with any frozen or fresh fruit. My frozen blueberries (from Sainsburys I confess) were on the large size, so I would probably try smaller berries or smaller pieces of fruit the next time.

Recipe

Ingredients – makes 12 muffins

150 grams (5 ounces) whole wheat flour

140 grams (4 1/3 ounces) plain white flour (not self raising)

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

55 grams (2 ounces, 4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted

180 grams (6 1/3 ounces) of sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

225 mls (8 fluid ounces) of sour cream or full fat greek yoghurt

220 grams (8 ounces) frozen blueberries

Instructions

1. Combine the first five ingredients; flour to salt, in a bowl. Stir together.
2. Put the melted butter in the bowl for your mixer. Add the sugar. Beat to combine (don’t you love the melted butter trick).
3. Scrape down the bowl, beat in the eggs one a time and combine well.
4. Add the vanilla and the sour cream. Beat until incorporated.
5. Add the dry ingredients from step 1. Mix on low speed until just combined. (Do not overbeat quick bread, it will punish you).
6. Stir in the frozen fruit. Make sure that the bottom of the batter has mixed in properly.
7. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for an hour. You could leave it longer but I think the frozen fruit will deteriorate if you leave it for too long.
8. Preheat the oven to 200C (180C fan) (375F).
9. Prep a muffin pan with paper liners lightly coated with non-stick spray or grease the tin.
10. Fill the muffin pan – I use my ice cream scoop. Put a generous scoop full in each muffin cup.
11. Bake for 22 to 26 minutes. They will look lovely and brown on the top when complete.
12. Cool for 5 minutes in the tin, then tip out to cool on a rack or on the counter top. Don’t let them cool in the tin; that’s how they get hard crust on the sides and bottom.

Enjoy. One recipe down, eleven to go.

These muffins are the first recipe I made with my King Arthur Whole Grain Baking cookbook and they remain a favourite.  One of these muffins is the perfect breakfast for busy people.  The cookbook itself was a gift from my elder sister, Rachael.    It’s a gift that keeps giving and has given me and my family lots of joy.

This is a muffin recipe and it really is one of those that anyone can bake.  It’s full of fruit, vegetables and seeds as well as whole grains.  I’ve done the ingredients in metric (except for teaspoons and tablespoons). I have done the instructions in the order that I do them – not the order they are in the cookbook.

Ingredients

225 grams whole wheat flour

210 grams light or dark  brown sugar

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon salt

200 grams of carrots – grated

2 large tart apples – grated

85 grams  raisins

45 grams desiccated coconut

45 grams slivered almonds

60 grams sunflower seeds

3 eggs

130 mls corn oil

55 mls orange juice

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 190C (or 170C fan).  Put paper liners in a 12 cup muffin tin.  Line a small (450 grams) loaf tin.  You might not need it, but I always do.  You’ll see why below.
2. Prep the dry ingredients.  Combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger and salt in a big bowl.
3. Prepare the carrots.  I don’t peel the carrots and I’m not precise about the amount.  I cut off the tops and bottoms, weight the carrots and err on the side of more carrots not less.   I use a small electric chopper (like this one from Amazon – I actually have 2).  The electric chopper is a great gadget and is priceless for people who use lots of fresh fruit and vegetables.  Chop the carrots small and throw them in a medium bowl.
4. Prepare the apples.  I use two big green Granny Smith apples.  I core them – like the carrots, I never peel them. Chop the apples into big chunks and then chop them small, like the carrots.  You don’t need to be too precise with the apples either and I always err on the side of more apples.   Put the apples in with the carrots.
5. Add the coconut, almonds, sunflower seeds and raisins to the bowl with the apples and carrots.  Stir it together and then add the contents to the dry ingredients.  Mix well using a big wooden spoon – DO NOT USE YOUR MIXER.
6. Beat the eggs in a separate medium bowl with a fork until they are well mixed.  Add the corn oil, orange juice and vanilla to the eggs.  Stir together and add it to the dry ingredients and the fruit vegetable and seed mixture.  Mix well with your wooden spoon!
7. Time to fill your muffin tins.  I use my trigger ice cream scoop (like this one on Amazon).  A generously filled scoop is perfect for a muffin cup.  Don’t overfill the muffin pan.  You may well have enough left over dough for a small loaf.
8. Bake the muffins for 23 to 25 minutes; the tops should look dry.  If you make a loaf as well, that needs to be baked for about 35 minutes at the same heat.
9. Take the muffins out of the oven, leave them in tin for about 5 minutes, then tip them out onto a cooling rack.   The muffins are sturdy; they travel well, they freeze well and kids love them.  The kids never notice the healthy bits.

Sturdy muffins that travel well.

It’s called  a quick bread because the leavening agent is baking power but it is genuinely quick to prepare,  to cook and to clean up.  And if your vegetable garden goes into courgette overdrive – you can use the courgettes and make the family happy at the same time.

Whole wheat courgette bread – zucchini for los Americanos.

Ingredients

Dry:

• 225 grams whole wheat flour
• 120 grams plain white flour or bread flour (NOT self raising)
• 150 grams caster sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Wet:

• 2 large eggs
• 170 mls milk
• 60 mls vegetable oil (corn or rapeseed, not olive oil)

Other:

• 350 grams grated courgette
• 85 grams raisins
• 60 grams chopped walnuts
• 1 tablespoon grated lemon zest (see top tip below)

Instructions

Preheat your oven.  175C non-fan/160C fan.  Prepare a large loaf pan (900 gram/2 lb/23x13cms) or two small loaf pans (450gram/1lb/12×6).   Either grease with a hard fat (butter or lard) or line with paper.

Whisk together the dry ingredients (from whole wheat flour down to nutmeg) in a large bowl.  Make sure they are well mixed.

Prep the ‘other’ ingredients and put them in a bowl (don’t need to mix).

A top tip; you can buy lemon zest and keep it in the freezer or use Dr Oetker or another substitute.  Sometimes its just too much to have to have a lemon in the fridge to zest.   Another suggestion; if you do a lot of baking with nuts and vegetables, you might want to get a mini-chopper like this one.   No, I’m not sponsored by Amazon, it’s just where I do my appliance shopping.  I find it much easier to use and to clean up if I’m not working with big quantities.

Put all the ‘wet’ ingredients in a bowl or a big mixing jug and whisk to blend smoothly.  Pour the wet into the dry and mix well.  Then add the ‘other’ ingredients to the mixture and stir until incorporated.  Scoop the batter into the prepared pan and place in the oven.

Bake for an hour and then check the temperature (if more than 90C you’re done and out it comes).  If you don’t have a thermometer, if the top looks wet and wobbles, it’s not done.   It’s unlikely to be done after an hour – tent the top loosely with foil and bake for another 10 to 15 minutes.

Remove from the oven when it’s done, cool in the pan for 15 minutes or so.  Then remove from the pan and cool completely on a wire rack.

Top tips and gadgets

Loaf pan liners are very convenient and speed prep, cooking and clean up.  I use an ice cream scoop with a trigger to fill the pan.  The mini-chopper comes into its own for chopping nuts – buying pre-chopped nuts is expensive plus they get stale. But chopping your own by hand is too time consuming for me.   Prepared lemon zest is also a big time saver and means you can keep lemons in the ‘pantry’ (zest and bottled juice)  rather than needing fresh for baking.

Recipe count

47 quick bread recipes; 4 completed! OMG what was I thinking.