Blueberry, Oat and Chia Seed Muffins

These muffins are a bit dense but they are very tasty. They used up lots of stuff I had in cupboards and they are slightly more complicated than a straight forward muffin but tasty.

Blueberry, Oat and Chia Seed Muffins (from Time Out)
(Makes 12)

75g wholemeal flour
125g plain flour
200g rolled oats
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
3 tbsp chia seeds
2 really ripe bananas, peeled
2 large eggs, separated
250 milk
2 tbsp runny honey
3 tbsp oil
125g blueberries

Preheat the oven to 180C. Line a muffin tray with paper cases.

Cobmine the flours, oats, baking powder, cinnamon, chia seeds and a pinch of salt in a bowl, the create a well in the middle.

Mash the banana in a separate bowl, then add the egg yolks, milk, honey and oil. Mix well, then pour it into the well. Mix everything gently until a wet batter forms.

In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until they form soft peaks. Fold them into the muffing batter with the blueberries until evenly mixed.

Divide the muffin mix between the paper cases and bake for 25 mins or until cooked through and golden.

Red Cabbage Smoothie

So I didn't really like this. I got a red cabbage in my veg bag a couple of weeks ago and I am never really sure what to do with it, beyond pickling. This time I tried a smoothie. I'm not sure if my blender is not high powered enough, it's just a bog standard Kenwood, but this was rather gritty and unappetising.

I thought I'd post it anyway so that anyone with one of those whizzy new fangled things can give it a go and see if the texture is better!

Red Cabbage Smoothie (from My Fitness Pal)
(Serves 2)

325ml cups cold water
1/2 small head red cabbage, quartered and frozen
100g frozen blueberries
1 banana, frozen
165g low-fat vanilla yogurt

Break up the frozen cabbage with your hands and puree with water in a high power blender. Add frozen blueberries, banana and vanilla yogurt and puree again until smooth.

Super Berry Blitz

This was the first recipe I tried from my WeightWatchers cookbooks last week. It was just like the smoothies I have been drinking but using water instead of milk. It does fill you up and because it just contains fruit it has no points. You can use skimmed milk instead of water for 1 PP per person and add 80g oats to the recipe to make it a proper smoothie for 2 PP per person.

Super Berry Blitz (from Cooking the WeightWatchers Way)
(Serves 4)
(0 WW ProPoints Per Serving)

200g blueberries
200g strawberries
200g raspberries
2 bananas, sliced
1 tsp vanilla extract
425ml chilled water

Put all the ingredients into a blender or food processor and blend until smooth.

Pour into glasses and serve.

Blueberry, Lemon and Maple Oatmeal Muffins

Over the weekend I did a couple of bits of baking. As I knew I was seeing family and friends I made blueberry muffins to give to everyone. They seemed to sink a bit but were very tasty and you could really taste the maple syrup.

Blueberry, Lemon and Maple Oatmeal Muffins
(from Daily Unadventures in Cooking)
(Makes 12)

125g flour
90g quick oats
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 lemon, zest and juice
1 egg
75ml maple syrup
245g yoghurt
12 ml oil
200g blueberries

Preheat the oven to 200C.

Put the flour, salt, baking powder, soda, oats and lemon zest in a bowl and stir to combine.
 

In a second bowl whisk together the syrup and egg. Whisk in the yoghurt, lemon juice and oil.

 

In small bowl sprinkle the blueberries with a 2 tbsp of the dry mix.

Fold the wet mixture into the flour mixture gently. Stir in the blueberries. Divide between 12 muffin tins and bake for 18-20 mins.

Blueberry and Apple Pudding Cake

I loved this pudding, especially with a helping of homemade vanilla ice cream. I used one cooking and one eating apple, as I like the texture that gives and this was so good.

Blueberry and Apple Pudding Cake (from Oak Cottage Recipes)
(Serves 6)

2 large cooking apples, peeled, cored and sliced thinly
225g fresh blueberries
140g plain flour
3 tsp baking powder
110g caster sugar
250ml buttermilk
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
85g soft light brown sugar
250ml of boiling water

Pre-heat the oven to 180C. Butter a medium sized baking dish.

Put the apples into the baking dish and toss together with the blueberries. Set aside while you make the batter.

Whisk the flour, baking powder, and caster sugar together in a bowl. Beat the buttermilk, egg and vanilla together. Stir this mixture into the flour mixture, mixing well.

Add the boiling water to the soft light brown sugar, stirring it well to dissolve the sugar.

Pour the batter over the fruit, then carefully and quickly pour the boiling water mixture into one corner of the baking dish.  Bake in the oven for 45 mins, or until it is well risen and golden. Serve.

Birthday Highjinks - Peach and Blueberry Cobbler

This is the last of my birthday recipes and the second of the two cobblers I made, this one is a more American version and was so so good. Whereas the English version was a little too sweet and the scones a little firm for a pudding topping the cake batter mixture was perfect. It would also be easier to make smaller versions of this, which I will definitely be doing! I've also filled up all week on leftover puddings, it's been fantastic!
Although the outlay for the party was a fair bit, actually I've had so many leftovers and things that it's practically fed me for the week. I bought a very good quality piece of pork and even so my Mum and I worked out that the pork was just over £1 per portion, which is pretty good value really. None of anything else was particularly expensive and a lot of it simply used up things I already had and at the end of the day I had a fantastic night with good friends and good food and that's what really matters.

Peach and Blueberry Cobbler (from Hairy Biker's Mississippi Adventure)
(Serves 6-8)

2 x 410g tins sliced peaches, in juice
75g granulated or golden caster sugar, plus 4 tbsp       
2 tbsp cornflour
75g butter, softened
1 large egg
150ml semi-skimmed milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
200g self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
125g blueberries

Preheat the oven to 190C. Drain the peaches, reserving the juice from just one of the cans - you’ll get about 110ml.

Put the peaches and the juice in a medium saucepan and add 2 tbsp of the sugar. Cook the peaches and sugar for three minutes, or until they reach a gentle simmer.

Mix the cornflour with 4 tbsp cold water and stir into the pan. Cook over a low heat for 2-3 minutes or until the peach juice has thickened and looks almost clear, stirring constantly. Tip into a 1.5 litre shallow ovenproof dish.

To make the topping, put the 75g of sugar in a large bowl and add the soft butter, egg, milk, vanilla extract, flour and baking powder.

Beat like hell with a wooden spoon or electric whisk. The batter should be thick and smooth and drop easily from the spoon. Don’t worry if there are a few small lumps of butter in the mix. Stir in the blueberries.

Put big spoonfuls of the batter on top of the fruit. There will be a few gaps but the cobbler mixture will soften to fill them.

Sprinkle with the remaining 2 tbsp sugar and bake for 35 minutes until the fruit is bubbling and the topping is well risen and golden brown. Serve with cream or ice cream.