Kids Cooking Thursday: Choc Honeycomb muffins

We were running short of after school snacks, so in very little time we whipped up these Honeycomb Muffins. Only change I made was to skip the choc chips in favour of more crushed honeycomb.

Sadly there is a shortage of photos today, because it was hard to co ordinate scooping with a four year old and a two year old, and have a hand for the camera as well.

If you'd like to join in with Kids Cooking Thursday please leave a permalink to your own Kids Cooking Thursday post, as per the rules.

Kids Cooking Thursday: Choc Orange Muffins

A rather delicious muffin recipe from Coles free Winter magazine. My MIL made these, and they were so delicious I thought we should make a batch ourselves. Nice and easy, and according to the recipe, only $0.65 a serve. I used expensive dark chocolate, but I also managed to get 3 more than they did, so I'm not sure where that leaves me.

Choc Orange Muffins
175g butter, chopped
175g dark chocolate, chopped (we used half Lindt Orange Intense and half Green & Blacks Maya Gold, for that extra orange hit)
1 cup brown sugar
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 orange, zested, and sliced into thin slices (you'll need at least 6)
1 cup SR flour
2 Tbsp cocoa

Preheat oven to 180°C. Line a 12 hole muffin tray with patty cases.

Melt butter and chocolate together


Add in the sugar


Stir until the sugar has dissolved


Zest the orange

Add the beaten eggs and the orange zest into the chocolate mixture and beat with a wooden spoon until well combined.
Sift the flour and cocoa.

Fold the cocoa and flour into the mixture - lick mix off hand when you think Mum isn't watching

Fill the prepared pans with a dessert spoon of mixture each. 2/3s full is where you should aim for. Top each muffin with a chunk of orange slice. A quarter or third of a slice is enough, depending on the size of your orange. (I trimmed the peel from our orange slices, because none of us like peel)

Obligatory In-the-oven-because-I-forgot-to-take-a-photo Photo

Bake for 20-25 minutes, until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack before eating.

You can see my three "extra" muffins at the back - they were the ones that didn't fit in my tray. I just used double cases and set them on a flat tray.

If you'd like to join in with Kids Cooking Thursday please leave a permalink to your own Kids Cooking Thursday post, as per the rules.

Kids Cooking Thursday: Birthday Racing Muffins

Yogurt, Berry & White Chocolate Muffins (adapted from Best Recipes)
1½ cups wholemeal self-raising flour
½ cup caster sugar
40g butter, melted
2 eggs, beaten lightly
1 cup low-fat strawberry yogurt
1 cup frozen mixed berries
140g white eating chocolate, chopped coarsely

Preheat oven to 180°C/160°C fan-forced. Line muffin tray with paper cases.
Combine flour and sugar in large bowl.
Add remaining ingredients and mix batter until just combined.

Evenly fill muffin holes. Bake about 30 minutes.
Muffins need to cool completely before icing.

Make cars by "gluing" Smarties or M&Ms on a fun size Milky Way bar with melted chocolate. Very gently carve a small hole in the top of the bar and insert a Tiny Teddy biscuit.

You could also use Hershey's Kissables inserted into the sides as wheels, but they have a tendency to cause more severe structural damage to the chocolate. These also make a great party treat just by themselves.

If you'd like to join in with Kids Cooking Thursday please leave a permalink to your own Kids Cooking Thursday post, as per the rules.

Roasted Banana Bread Muffins

I may have cheated a little with this week's cookbook challenge, since my cookbook isn't something you can buy in the store. But it is one of the cookbooks I use the most often, and I don't even own it. It's my mother's tiny three ring binder, only A5 size, and jammed full of recipes I've grown up with. My mother used to be a Tupperware demonstrator, and therefore had opportunities to try lots of nibblies at the refreshments after each party. Many recipes in her binder have strange names listed as sources, names even my mother can't place, but Glenys will be forever in my memory as the person who gave my mother the recipe for Mervin's Balls.

Many recipes you've seen here come from that magical folder, Cauliflower Soup, Croquettes, and Mallee Quiche (another Tupperware party recipe), plus others.

I wanted a simple banana bread recipe that I could make into muffins, to monkey-fy to take to playgroup next week, in honour of my little monkey turning two this weekend. Since it's such a small group (never more than 5 kids) I wanted a 'cupcake' recipe that the leftovers would be healthy enough for Master Six to take to school, or stand in as breakfast on weekends when we have run out of choc rubbish cereal (my kids will only suffer through weet bix on school days!) Banana Bread seemed the perfect compromise, so I sent off a quick email to my mother, and she typed it out for me. And now I share it on with you.

Banana Tea Bread (from my mother's ringbound folder)
2 cups s.r. flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp Dutch cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup oil or 90g butter
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs, beaten
500g peeled mashed bananas
100g chopped nuts (optional)

Sift together the first four dry ingredients.
Cream oil and sugar, add the eggs and beat well.
Add bananas, and beat again.
Stir in flour and nuts (if using)
Put in greased ring tin and place in 180°C oven for 1 hour.

I made just a few alterations, because of what I had in the house, but they turned out excellent. I used Wholemeal SR flour, and Speculaas kruiden instead of cinnamon (it's a Dutch spice mix, made mostly of cinnamon but with a few other things, like white peppper and cardamom and nutmeg thrown in as well.) I mistakenly used baking soda instead of baking powder, but my mother assured me it doesn't matter that much. I used brown sugar, and I skipped the nuts completely. Oh, and possibly the most important extra step, I roasted the (4) bananas in their skins at 170°C for 15 minutes, until their skins were black and weepy. I let them cool completely before mashing. It adds just a bit more banana to the flavour, something my mother never has to do, because when she makes banana bread, she just bought 15 kilos of bananas that are almost black from the fruit shop. I got bright yellow firm things from the supermarket. I don't like not living walking distance from an excellent greengrocer, as we did back in Melbourne, no I do not.

In paper lined muffin tins, these only take 20 minutes in the 180°C oven. And even less time to cool, and subsequently eat.

These would have made a great recipe for Kids Cooking Thursday, with all the sifting, mixing, and not to mention the mashing, but two of my three are sick at the moment, and Miss Four was too busy writing stories to notice I wasn't even in the room. Better for her to miss out than trying to convince Master Almost Two that he couldn't cook too because he was sick. And there really isn't much more disturbing than a two year old who has lost his voice, trying to throw a screaming tantrum with only whispers.

This was an entry for
The Cookbook Challenge: Week 28 - Breakfast.

Kids Cooking Thursday: Chocolate, Orange, and Chocolate Chunk Muffins

Chocolate, Orange, and Chocolate Chunk Muffins
from Mad about Muffins by Diana Bonaparte

120g butter
100g dark chocolate
2 oranges
a little milk
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
285g plain flour
200g light muscovado sugar
1 tsp bicarb soda
1/8 tsp salt
150g milk chocolate, roughly chopped

Preheat the oven to 190°C. Grease and flour 12 muffin tin sections or line with paper liners.

Melt the butter and the chocolate together in a bowl over a pan of simmering water until smooth.

Grate the zest from the oranges into a medium sized bowl. Squeeze the juice from both fruit.

Make the orange juice up to 190g with a little milk and combine with orange zest. Add in the egg and vanilla and mix well, then whisk this mixture into the melted chocolate and butter.

Sift the flour, light muscovado sugar, bicarb soda and salt into a large bowl. You will need to push the light muscovado sugar through the sieve with the back of a spoon.

Add the butter and chocolate mixture to the flour mixture and fold everything together until just blended. Fold in the chocolate chunks.

Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tin sections. Bake for 22-25 minutes until the muffins are well risen and the tops spring back when gently pressed.

Transfer to a wire rack to cool a little before eating.

This was Master Five's choice for a birthday 'cake' for his sixth birthday party. We made them ahead of time, letting them cool completely to room temperature before freezing them. I took them out of the freezer the night before the party, slapped a thin coat of Betty Crocker's Chocolate frosting (sure it's premade and full of ingredients known only by numbers, but it tastes so damn gooood!) and topped them with pirate foam shapes from the scrapbooking aisle. Because I am not so good with the freehand icing drawing.

A few little changes in technique and ingredients, we used brown sugar instead of light muscovado, and Valencia oranges, which were so juicy, we had 190ml from one orange, so Master One and I drank the leftover juice, and we didn't need any milk. One thing I found, with the brown sugar, was that if we tipped it all in a bowl and throughly mixed it through the flour first, it was easier to sift, because it didn't stick to itself so much. And as always, I melted my chocolate and butter in the microwave - it's fine if you use low temps and know what you are doing. ;)

This was an entry for
The Cookbook Challenge: Week 24 - Chocolate.

If you'd like to join in with Kids Cooking Thursday please leave a permalink to your own Kids Cooking Thursday post, as per the rules.

Kids Cooking Thursday: In-the-house Muffins

Something really easy and simple today for a change. This was from a recipe called 'Bells of St Clements Muffins' because the lime was supposed to be lemon. But I have limes in the house, and not lemons, and I had everything else in the house, so I wasn't going out to buy a lemon. Besides, I like limes, and the green is so cheery. With the low amount of sugar in these, I feel they are healthy enough to send to school with Master 5, whose school has a very strict healthy lunchbox policy. (Mind you there is plenty of rubbish on sale at the canteen! Chicken nuggets and biscuits and icy poles etc!)

In-the-house Citrus Muffins
2 cups SR flour
1/2 cup caster sugar
2 oranges
2 limes
1/3 cup oil
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 180°C. Place muffin paper cases into muffin pan.
Zest oranges and limes into a large bowl. Stir in flour and sugar.

I just missed a finger lick in this shot!

Juice the oranges and limes. (Master One loves to do this, with my hand on top of his, yelling "squee, squee!" - he has a little trouble with the zz sound still!) If you have less than 1 cup of juice (we did!) top up with any juice you might have in the fridge. Preferably orange, but apple will do. Combine juices, oil and eggs in a jug, whisk to combine. Pour liquid into dry ingredients and mix until just combined.

Master One having a ball - not doing much stirring though!

Spoon muffin mixture into muffin pans and bake for 20-25 minutes until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

If you'd like to join in with Kids Cooking Thursday please leave a permalink to your own Kids Cooking Thursday post, as per the rules.



Don't forget today is your last chance to enter Kids In The Kitchen, training our next generation of food bloggers! ;)

Kids Cooking Thursday: Cheesecake Muffins

Cheesecake Muffins(Taken from Quilt Inn Country Cookbook)
Filling
8 oz. package cream cheese, softened (That's about 225g, or one "block" pack)
2 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp orange rind, grated fine

Cream rind, sugar and cheese together in bowl until smooth. Set aside

Batter
1/3 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 Tbsp orange juice concentrate
1 tsp orange rind, grated
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1 1/4 cups finely grated carrots
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 180C (350F). Cream butter and brown sugar together in mixing bowl. Beat in eggs, orange juice concentrate and milk. Stir in orange rind, carrots, raisins, and walnuts. Combine flour, baking powder and cinnamon in large mixing bowl. Add wet mixture.

Stir just until moistened. Spoon 2 tablespoons batter into each muffin cup, using only half the batter mix.

Spoon one tablespoon filling on top. Cover with remaining batter. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until top is firm and springs back when pressed lightly.

We swapped the juice concentrate for fresh juice, since we had the orange anyway, and added a few drops of orange essence.

Master One loves this cooking thing

We also switched the raisins for sultanas, because that's what I had. And we skipped the walnuts because I don't like them.

If you'd like to join in with Kids Cooking Thursday please leave a permalink to your own Kids Cooking Thursday post, as per the rules.


This was an entry for
The Cookbook Challenge: Week 15 - Muffins.











Don't forget to get messy with your young 'uns for Kids In The Kitchen, training our next generation of food bloggers! ;)

Kids Cooking Thursday: Orange & Cranberry Muffins

Orange & Cranberry Muffins
1 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
2 cups self raising flour
1/4 teaspoon fine salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
zest of one orange
2/3 cup sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup milk

Preheat the oven to 190°C.
Put the cranberries and orange juice in a small saucepan, and bring to a simmer. Remove from the heat, and set aside to cool and plump.
Line a muffin pan with paper cases. We had enough batter for 18.
Sift the flour and the salt together into a bowl. (Miss Three loves to whack the side of the sieve to make the flour come out!)
Using an electric mixer, cream the butter, orange zest, sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Make sure you scrape the sides of the bowl occasionally. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Then fold a third of the flour into the mixture, and then half of the milk, then flour, milk and flour again, until just combined.(Miss Three's favourite part of cooking is holding the measuring cup over the bowl and tipping it in when full) Don't over work it, so let your child mix first, and then finish it up yourself. Fold in the cranberries, and then divide the batter into the muffin cases. You want the case to be about 2/3s full. Cook for about 25 minutes, until golden brown.

If you'd like to join in with Kids Cooking Thursday please leave a permalink to your own Kids Cooking Thursday post, as per the rules.


This was an entry for Kids Delight hosted by Spice Your Life for her first blogversary. I thought this was an apt dish to choose, because although all of my food is cooked for kids, it's only these weekly posts that have food cooked with my kids as well, a time spent together creating food (and mess) and memories.

Don't forget to think (and cook!) pink for the Virtual Night In, raising money and awareness for Breast Cancer Research.

Kids Cooking Thursday: Pizza Muffins

We have a hoard of cousins coming for lunch, so these are perfect. And the leftover are bound for the freezer, for Master Five's school lunches.

Pizza Muffins
2 cups self-raising flour
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 can chopped italian garlic & basil tomatoes, drained
2 tbsp tomato paste
225g can pineapple pieces in natural juice, drained and chopped finely
100g bacon, chopped
1 cup grated tasty cheese
2 eggs
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup olive oil

Preheat oven to 200°C. Line a muffin pan with paper cases.
Sift flour, sugar and baking powder into large bowl. Add cheese and stir to combine.
Fry the bacon until light brown. Add the tomatoes, pineapple and tomato paste to dry off some of the liquid. Add to flour mixture and quickly work through.
Using a fork, whisk eggs, milk and oil together in a jug until combined. Add to dry ingredients. Using a large metal spoon, stir until just combined.
Fill patty cases 2/3s full. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Stand muffins in pan for 5 minutes. Turn onto a wire rack to cool completely.

If you'd like to join in with Kids Cooking Thursday please leave a permalink to your own Kids Cooking Thursday post, as per the rules.


Don't forget to think (and cook!) pink for the Virtual Night In, raising money and awareness for Breast Cancer Research.

Kids Cooking Thursday: Toblerone Muffins

Mmmmm... muffins

The muffin itself was a bit bland. Needed more cocoa or sugar, or just a lot more chopped Toblerone. Perhaps if I'd chopped it more finely, then used another bar chopped chunky. The chunky bits on top when gooey, then chewy as they cooled down. Very tasty.

It could be from the melted chocolate, but this was the first muffin I've (we've) made that wasn't too dry for my taste. Even if the mix was so stiff I had to blob the mix in the cases instead of pour it. Hence the ugly shapes.

But they were very yummy. We all had two for afternoon tea.

Anyone got any suggestions for Master Three and Miss Two to cook next week?

Oh, and by the way, I'd just like to apologise for the crappy, crappy photos I take. All I have is the dodgy camera on my phone, because that's the only one we can get the photos off. We have an old Kodak digital that takes nice photos, but it doesn't have a usb connecting cable, and DP reinstalled his OS, and now can't get the drivers for it anymore. So until I win the lottery, or someone gives me a brand new camera that either connects via usb or takes SD or MMC cards, you're stuck with crummy phone photos. Sorry. Here's a crummy photo of Miss Two to make up for it.

Isn't she adorable?