Aug 6th, 2010 by Jan Littlehales
The next time you have unexpected guests and have nothing nice to serve with a cuppa for afternoon tea, don’t panic. Just slip into the kitchen and while the kettle boils you can make muffins. This recipe will take you less than ten minutes to prepare and just a bit more than ten minutes to cook. A couple of minutes out of the oven and you’ll be eating them.
Muffins are a great treat for the kids when they get home from school and are perfect for the school lunch box. Muffins also freeze really well so when I make muffins I often double the quantity and freeze for a quick and easy lunch box item. And don’t forget to get your kids involved in the kitchen – they’ll love making these muffins.
This particular recipe is for Chocolate Chip and Banana Muffins, but you can easily vary the recipe (see Variations below). To keep things really simple, and to speed up the process, I use a cup measure. The cup should hold approx 250 ml/8 fl oz of water. Here goes.
Make Muffins – Ingredients
- Two cups self-raising flour
- Half a cup sugar
- Half a cup good quality chocolate chips (don’t use choc – it’s not the real deal)
- Approx 100g of butter (or your usual spread)
- 1 cup milk (I use soy)
- 1 egg
- 1 tea spoon vanilla essence (optional)
- 3 bananas
- Muffin tray to cook 12 muffins
- Oil spray to spray muffin tray
Make Muffins – Method
- Heat oven to moderate
- Spray your muffin tray with oil spray
- Put flour, sugar and chocolate chips in a bowl and stir
- In a separate bowl add butter and melt gently in microwave
- Add the milk, egg and vanilla essence to the melted butter and stir
- If bananas are soft, add to liquid mix and mash carefully with a masher
- If bananas are not soft, cut into quite small pieces and add to liquid mix
- Add liquid mix to dry ingredients and stir until combined
- Divide mixture between 12 muffins in tray
- Cook in oven for 12-14 minutes until golden and springy to the touch
- Allow to sit in the tray for a couple of minutes before taking out and placing on a rack
- Cool slightly and enjoy!
Variations
- Make Double Chocolate Chip Muffins by adding a quarter cup of cocoa to the dry mix. Leave out the banana and add a couple of table spoons yoghurt to the liquid mix (or extra milk if you don’t have yoghurt)
- To make Berry Muffins add one cup of berries to the dry mix and leave out the chocolate chips. Also leave out the banana
- If you have no bananas, use any tinned fruit you might have in the cupboard. Drain and add one or two cups of chopped fruit to the liquid mix. Try peaches, pears or mixed friut. Leave out the chocolate chips
- Apple Muffins are delicious. Just add one cup of cooked apples (from a tin if you are pressed for time) to the liquid mix in place of the banana. No need for chocolate chips – unless of course you fancy apple and chocolate chip muffins
- Savoury Muffins have become quite popular – served with sour cream
- You can make 24 smaller muffins or 6 mega muffins – remember to vary the time cooked accordingly
Handy Tips
- If you have bananas that are going really black and soft they are perfect for making muffins
- I put over-ripe bananas in the freezer until I need them to make muffins. They go completely black and when defrosted the banana just squeezes out. It looks a bit revolting, but they make great banana muffins
- Frozen mixed berries are perfect for making berry muffins
- Muffins are best eaten on the day they are made – but will keep for a couple of days
- If you do have some left, heat them slightly in the microwave before serving
- Muffins freeze well and are perfect for the school lunch box
There really are endless options when it comes to muffins. So what are you waiting for? Make muffins today and see for yourself how simple and easy they are to make – and how delicious they are to eat.
What type of muffins do you make? Which muffins are your household’s favourite?
I look forward to your comments.
Jan Littlehales
Posted in Easy Desserts, Easy Snacks | 7 Comments »
Jul 28th, 2010 by Jan Littlehales
I’m originally from England and can’t remember ever having pumpkin soup when I lived there. It was only when I came to Australia I tried it – and was smitten. I’ve been making this pumpkin soup recipe for years. It’s very easy to make and totally delicious.
A good soup starts with good quality stock and this pumpkin soup recipe uses my chicken stock recipe as a base. If you’ve made the stock previously, your preparation time will be less than ten minutes for this recipe. How much stock you put in will depend on how thick you like your soup and also how big your pumpkin is. As a guide, a 1kg pumpkin will need around 1 litre of stock and serve approx 4 people.
Pumpkin Soup Recipe – Ingredients
- Approx 1 Litre of chicken stock
- Approx 1 kg chopped pumpkin
- Crusty bread to serve (optional)
- Fresh cream and chopped parsley to serve (both optional)
Pumpkin Soup Recipe – Method
- Put chicken stock and chopped pumpkin in a large saucepan
- Bring to the boil and simmer for around 30 minutes
- Let the mixture cool before pouring into a food processor (aka whizzer)
- Whiz until smooth
- Reheat and serve with cream and chopped parsley, if desired
Variations
- If you’re short of pumpkin, add a few carrots or a potato or two
- Nice served with croutons
- I particularly like black pepper to serve
Handy Hints
- Pumpkin can be a nightmare to peel. I cut the whole pumpkin into thick slices then cut off the hard peel using a large, sharp knife on a chopping board. You’ll loose a bit of the pumpkin on the rounded edge, but I wouldn’t worry too much about that.
- Chopped pumpkin is delicious roasted in the oven. Sprinkle with a little olive oil and shake over some chili flakes – delicious. Very nice used as a layer in veggie lasagna.
- You can make funky patterns and shapes when you add the cream!
Pumpkin soup recipe – another dinner in ten minutes recipe for you to try. Looking forward, as always, to your comments.
Jan Littlehales
Posted in Easy Snacks | 6 Comments »
Jun 21st, 2010 by Jan Littlehales
Don’t you just love pancakes!
Pancakes are a very popular breakfast choice at our house. The smell of pancakes wafting up the stairs, first thing in the morning, is the best way I know of getting two teenage boys out of bed.
They are so easy to make, as this how to make pancakes recipe will explain.
This recipe will make 4-6 large pancakes. It depends on how thick you like them – and how big your fry pan is. I usually make large pancakes that fill the whole pan. You can of course make 2 or 3 smaller ones in the pan at the same time if you prefer.
To keep it simple, I use a cup measure for this How to Make Pancakes recipe. The cup should hold approx 250 ml/8 fl ozs of liquid.
How to Make Pancakes – Ingredients
- 2 Cups of milk – I use soy
- 1 and a half Cups plain flour
- Two Eggs
- Table Spoon oil – I use Olive Oil
- Extra oil for cooking in fry pan
How to Make Pancakes – Method
- Put all ingredients in a screw top jar of plastic container and shake vigorously until smooth (great for biceps)
- Alternatively, put ingredients in a bowl and whisk until smooth
- Heat extra oil in fry pan
- Once oil is hot, add enough pancake mixture to spread evenly over base of pan
- Cook over moderately high heat until crisp and browned on under-side
- Optional – toss pancake over to cook other side (like they do on Shrove Tuesday) – easier with a smaller pan
- Alternatively, flip over with a fish slice (safer, but not as much fun)
- Cook on other side
Serving Suggestions/Tips
Don’t think pancakes are only for breakfast, they make a lovely dessert too!
- With sugar and lemon (traditional)
- With honey (my younger boy’s choice)
- With honey and banana (my older boy’s choice)
- With maple syrup
- With strawberries and cream
- With strawberries, ice-cream and chocolate sauce – and cream!
- Eat pancakes flat or rolled up
- Left over mix can be stored in the fridge for a couple of days
- If the mixture is a bit thin, add more flour
- If the mixture is a bit thick, add more milk/soy
Didn’t I tell you my How to Make Pancakes recipe was easy. Give it a try and let me know how you get on.
So, there you have it, another Dinner in Ten Minutes recipe.
Hope you enjoy!
Jan Littlehales
Posted in Easy Snacks | 2 Comments »
Jun 6th, 2010 by Jan Littlehales
Bread Crumbs make super crispy toppings when baked in the oven and are good for binding homemade burgers. They are also great for schnitzel. It’s a good idea to always have a supply handy, so I turn all unwanted bread ends/crusts into bread crumbs and freeze until required.
It’s so easy – just put the bread ends/crusts into your food processor and whiz for a minute of two – instant bread crumbs! Freeze until required. I have kept bread crumbs in the freezer for a couple of months.
More cooking tips coming your way soon.
Posted in Cooking Tips | 2 Comments »
May 30th, 2010 by Jan Littlehales
The next time you have roast chicken, don’t throw away the carcass – use it to make this chicken stock recipe. Chicken stock is a fantastic base for soups and with winter upon us – in Australia at least – there couldn’t be a better time to make your own chicken stock.
The preparation for this chicken stock recipe is less than ten minutes. You then just let it bubble away on the stove until it’s ready.
Chicken Stock Recipe – Ingredients
- One roast chicken carcass
- 1 Onion – cut into quarters
- 2 or 3 carrots – each cut into 2 or 3 pieces
- 2 or 3 sticks of celery – each cut into 3 or 4 pieces
- 2 or 3 garlic cloves – each cut in half
- Handful of fresh parsley – optional
- 1 or 2 dried bay leafs – optional
- 1 tomato – cut in half
- 8 or so black pepper corns – whole
- 2 – 3 litres of water – enough to cover carcass
Chicken Stock Recipe – Method
- Put all ingredients into a large pan
- Bring to the boil and simmer for around 1 hour
- Allow to cool a little then strain – throw away all but the liquid
- Store chicken stock in air-tight container/s in the fridge or freezer until required
Handy Tips
- I take any left-over skin off the carcass before making the stock – that’s where the fat is (saturated) so I prefer not to use it
- Take out any left-over stuffing from the chicken cavity – you don’t really want that in your stock
- Chicken stock will keep for 2 or 3 days in the fridge – or freeze for a month or so until required
Variations
- You can use uncooked chicken bones in place of a roast chicken carcass
- For a Veggie Stock just leave out the chicken carcass and add some extra vegetables – cabbage works really well
- For a Fish Stock use raw fish bones in place of the chicken carcass
On it’s own this Chicken Stock Recipe isn’t very exciting, but it will make scrumptious Pumpkin Soup and Veggie Soup – recipes coming your way in the coming weeks – all in Ten Minutes of course.
So there you have it, another Dinner in Ten Minutes recipe. Let me know how you go with this one.
Jan Littlehales
Posted in Cooking Tips | 6 Comments »
