Granola Muffins

These muffins are 'choc' full of oats, nuts and seeds, not too sweet and make an excellent 'grab and go' breakfast or brunch treat. I do not add any sugar, however, if you prefer something sweeter add a quarter to a third of a cup of sugar with the dry ingredients. Commercial granola or toasted muesli work well in the recipe. Tinned fruit or stewed fruit help keep the muffins moist. I like tinned cherries, expensive so I wait until they are on special and buy a couple of extra tins or frozen blueberries. Apricot and this Citrus Granola are also delicious. Best eaten the same day that they are baked or wrap individual muffins, freeze, defrost and warm in the microwave as required.

I like to use the large cafe style muffin papers.

and enjoy them warm with some butter and maybe a little jam.

Fruity Granola Muffins

Ingredients

1 ¾ cups wholemeal flour or 2 cups plain flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/3 cup oat bran

1 1/2 cups granola plus 1/4 for decoration

2 teaspoons cinnamon (optional)

1 small can of fruit drained, and diced eg cherries, apricots, peaches or approx 1 cup stewed fruit or frozen berries

125 g butter, melted

2 eggs

1 cup milk, maybe a little more

Method

Combine flour, oat bran, cinnamon if using, baking powder and granola mix well.

Add fruit, milk, butter and eggs to flour mixture, stir to combine but do not over mix. If mixture seems to dry add a little extra milk.

Spoon the muffin mixture into the prepared tins or paper muffin cases.

Sprinkle with extra granola

Bake at 190 deg C for ten minutes, reduce heat 170 deg c and continue cooking until a skewer comes out clean, approximately 20 minutes.

Remove muffins from tins and place on a cooling rack.

Serve warm with butter

Citrus Granola

The citrus trees are really productive this year and with so much bounty lemons are added to just about everything. We have two Meyer lemons, one Eureka, two limes, an orange, a grapefruit and a recently planted tangelo. This granola is very fresh tasting due to the addition of the lemon zest, although orange and tangelo are both very good. It makes a nice change from my usual toasted muesli , I also like to combine the granola with this Chia Pudding

This is my breakfast bowl, a combination of the citrus granola, chia pudding, yoghurt, apples and tangelo segments cut into small pieces, I usually add a little milk.

The granola mix is good stirred into waffle or pancake batter or even a muffin mixture.

The waffles make good toast, here with mandarin jam

Granola in production

Ready for the oven

Cooked and cooling

Citrus Granola

2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted 2 tablespoons rice malt syrup or agave syrup* zest and juice of 2 lemons zest of 1 orange or tangelo

1 ½ cups rolled oats 1 cup almond slivers 1/2 cup pistachios or pepitas or use another 1/2 cup of almonds.

*honey or maple syrup may also be used. I like the rice malt syrup as it is not as sweet.

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Leave for an hour or so for the oats to absorb the citrus juice.

Line a shallow baking tray with baking parchment

Spread granola mixture evenly over the baking parchment.

Bake at 130/140 deg C until the granola is golden brown. This will take approximately 20 – 40 minutes. Stir or toss the mixture every 10 -15 minutes to break up the clumps and to help it brown evenly.

Remove from the oven and allow the granola to cool completely. The granola becomes crisp and crunchy when cold.

Store the granola in an airtight container.

Chia Breakfast Puddings

Chia puddings make an excellent breakfast. I make up a large batch, keep it in the fridge and then make a breakfast combo according to what is my fridge or season. I like to include nuts and fruit and will often include oats either as cold cooked porridge or a scattering of toasted muesli and yoghurt. There are many versions of this pudding around, however, it is so simple to make and can be easily adapted to your tastes. I find the addition of the vanilla extract makes it sweet enough, add a little maple syrup or honey if you need a sweeter product.

Chia pudding, yoghurt, stewed fig/fig compote, fresh figs and walnuts.

Cold oat porridge, chia pudding, yoghurt, plum compote, blueberries and walnuts.

Chia pudding, yoghurt, milk, blueberries, walnuts and a dollop of pureed stewed figs.

Chia pudding, yoghurt, plum compote, hazelnuts and ground flax seeds.

Chia pudding, yoghurt, vanilla syrup, banana, nectarine, blueberries, walnuts and flax seeds.

How To

Combine 1/4 cup chia seeds (white or black), 1 cup milk ( low fat, soy, almond or whatever you prefer) and 2 teaspoons good quality vanilla extract. Use more milk if you prefer a softer pudding.

Mix well and refrigerate. Stir whisk after twenty minutes and refrigerate. Repeat. The chia seeds will absorb the milk and produce a thick jelly like mixture after awhile. Keep refrigerated.

It may seem strange to combine cold porridge with the chia pudding. It is delicious if the porridge is made with milk and creamy. Add a spoon of yoghurt and toppings of your choice.

World Porridge Day

World Porridge Day - Who knew that there could be such a thing. There seems to be a national day for just about everything but how joyous to celebrate something that I eat nearly everyday of the week and not necessarily just for breakfast.

I can happily eat it plain but it is even more delicious topped with fresh fruit, stewed fruit, yoghurt and for something special a generous sprinkle of my breakfast crunch.

I like it thick and creamy and cook it in a saucepan so that the stirring process releases the starch into the cooking liquid. Place the oats in a saucepan and barely cover with water, leave to soak overnight. The next morning add some milk and cook over low heat, stirring until the oats boil and thicken. The consistency can be adjusted to your liking by adding more milk. 

I often cook two or three serves at a time, refrigerate the remaining serves and reheat in the microwave. 

Add a dollop of cream and have it for dessert.

Toasted Muesli

I often make toasted muesli as a little gift for friends instead of giving chocolates or biscuits. It is easy to customise or personalise the blend according to the recipients preferences, some seem to like no fruit, others no nuts, or a higher or lower proportion of oats.  This recipe is my starting point. Use the same combination of ingredients but leave the oats, almonds and seeds untoasted for plain or natural muesli.

Toasted Muesli

200 g rolled oats

100 g pumpkin seeds

100 g sunflower seeds

100 g almond slivers

50 g hazelnuts, roasted and skins removed/ rubbed off and cut in half.

50 g sultanas

50 g cranberries

50 g dried apricots, cut into small pieces 

Method

Preheat oven to 180 deg C.

Line two trays with kitchen parchment. 

Cover one of the trays with the rolled oats and the other with the seeds and almonds. Place the trays in the oven and bake until pale golden brown. Stir once or twice during the baking. This will take fifteen minutes or a longer. 

Remove from oven and allow to cool.

Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix well.

Store in an airtight jar. 

The mixture settles a little so Give the jar a shake to evenly mix the contents before pouring into a bowl.

Sometimes I give a bag of my Breakfast Crunch mix with the muesli.

Breakfast Crunch

This breakfast crunch topping is delicious. I scatter it over my breakfast pretty much every day and have been known have a little as a snack. The seeds are crunchy, with a mild cinnamon flavour and are only slightly sweetened. It is good with a cold cereals and muesli or warm grains  such as oats / porridge or as shown here buckwheat. I make a big batch once a week and store it in a tightly sealed jar. Add your choice fresh fruit or berries, stewed fruit, nuts and yoghurt. Sometimes I make the mixture with almonds, this makes it a more expensive topping but is even more delicious.

Buckwheat porridge with yoghurt, prune compote and my breakfast crunch mix. 

The seeds after baking.

Crunchy Breakfast Topping

1 cup sunflower seeds

1 cup pumpkin seeds/pepitas

1-2 tablespoons agave syrup or maple syrup or warmed honey

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 cup almond slivers/flaked almonds (optional)

Place seeds and cinnamon in a bowl. Mix well.

Add 1 tablespoon of the syrup/honey ands stir through, add a little more if necessary but do not make the seeds too sticky or wet. The syrup is used to enable the cinnamon to stick to the seeds.

Place the mixture on a tray lined with baking paper and bake at 180 deg C until the seeds start to go go golden brown, approximately 15 minutes.

Allow to cool on the tray. When cold the mixture can be crumbled and stored in an airtight jar or container.

Eggs

I have been 'chook sitting' and reaped the rewards, lots of lovely fresh eggs. Each day Henny has laid an egg.

My friend Helena has four chickens, one that lays and three in waiting they are not quite mature enough.

Free to roam during the day and securely shut into the hen house at night. So funny watching them establish their pecking order.

Really fresh eggs have a thick white and a golden yellow yolk sits up on the white.

With such fresh eggs on hand we had an egg dish every day.

Poached

Fried,

Scrambled,

Boiled,

And an omelette.

Eggs are so easy to cook, however, gentle heat is needed to prevent scrambled eggs and omelettes from becoming tough and rubbery.

This is How I Make Scrambled Eggs

Whisk the eggs eggs gently with a little milk. I use one tablespoon to two eggs.

Warm some cream seasoned with freshly ground black pepper and a pinch of salt. One tablespoon for every two eggs

Pour the eggs into the cream, reduce the heat and cook, stirring gently. If you like it add some chopped parsley.

Continue stirring, breaking up the clumps of egg

The eggs will thicken, do not overcook. It is best to remove the eggs from the heat before fully cooked as they will continue to cook.

Pile onto buttered toast

How to Make an Omelette


Get everything ready before you start to cook. Filling prepared, eggs whisked, plate ready.

Heat a little oil in a pan, this is my trusted and old pan that is used only for crepes and omelettes. Never washed, just wiped out with paper towel.

Pour in whisked eggs, reduce heat and continue cooking

The egg will start to coagulate, move the cooked egg from the edges into the middle and allow the uncooked egg to spread to the edges.

When the egg is nearly set add the filling over half the omelette

Use a spatula and gently roll the omelette over and and tip the cooked omelette out onto the plate.