Almond, Berry and Seed Breakfast Muffins

I saw a recipe somewhere for muffins like these but decided to tweak them a bit. They taste really good and they're way better for you than the muffins you buy from Starbucks on days when you're running too late for breakfast. I made a full batch of 12 then froze some so that when I needed to take one with me I just took it out of the freezer and by the time I got hungry it had thawed out. They keep for a couple of days in an airtight box anyway as they're full of fruit. They're so simple to make and even trick you into thinking you're eating real cake! They also only take 30 mins start to finish and 25 of those are when they're in the oven!

Ingredients
1 cup self-raising flour
1 pot (about 280 ml) buttermilk
1 cup ground almonds
2/3rds cup caster sugar (or muscavado unrefined sugar if you have it)
3tbsp seeds (I used half chia seeds and half flax seeds, Amazon sells them cheap)
1 large egg
1/4 cup olive oil
1 cup berries (I use frozen mixed berries) 
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg

Method
1. Put all the dry ingredients in a bowl.
2. Mix the oil, buttermilk and egg in a jug.
3. Add the wet to the dry ingredients and mix until incorporated.
4. Fold through the berries.
5. Divide between 12 muffin cases in a cupcake pan.
6. Bake at 170 degrees Celsius for about 25 minutes until a skewer comes out clean when inserted.
7. Leave to cool on a wire rack. 

Tips

- I topped mine with a sprinkling of porridge oats before baking to give some extra crunch to the top

- Use wholemeal flour if you want them to be even healthier

- Try mixing it up with different fruits and seeds as they're really versatile! Pumpkin seeds and apricots would be amazing... you could even add some white choc chips if you wanted them to be a little bit naughty!! 

Happy baking :) 

Blueberry Buttermilk Pancakes

I made these for breakfast for my mum when we went on a weekend away to West Wales. I had to wing it as I didn't have scales or a whisk but if they turned out as well as they did despite that, then having the right tools will only increase the chances of this being an idiot-proof recipe! They're really simple and taste really good. I serve them in a big fat stack with lots of maple syrup. They're best eaten straight out of the pan but I've also microwaved them after they've cooled when I'm ready for round two!

 

Ingredients

1 punnet blueberries

5 heaped tablespoons plain flour

1 pinch salt

1 egg

1 pot of buttermilk (about 254ml I think)

2 tbsp melted butter

1 tsp salt

1 tsp bicarb

 

Method

1. Mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl.

2. In a jug or small bowl, stir the wet ingredients together with a fork.

3. Add the wet to the dry ingredients and mix until combined.

4. Over a low heat, dollop in tablespoons of the mixture. Top each blob of batter with some blueberries.

5. When the tops of the pancakes bubble, flip them over.

6. Eat hot with lots of maple syrup!

 

Tips

Don't have your pan too hot as the outsides will cook really fast and you'll have raw dough in the middle. They're fine to take their time over a low heat. If you do happen to have them undercooked, blast them in the microwave for 30 seconds and they'll be cooked throughout.