Lunch Box Muffins

In my mind I call these "desperation muffins" 'cos they were born out of desperation on a Sunday evening (not my favourite time of the weekend) when I was thinking what can I put in my children's lunch boxes tomorrow?! (It doesn't help that my son and daughter like diametrically different snacks... sigh!)

We're not going to label them health muffins, because they contain both carbohydrates and fats. (Select whichever one is currently the most out-of-favour...)

But they've got enough good stuff in them that I'm more-than happy to put them in the kid's lunch boxes. And they're more-than happy to eat them. (Except on the days when they're not happy to eat anything... sigh!) 

Lunch Box Muffins
Recipe by Tea, Cake & Create

Pre-heat the oven to 180'C
Line a 12-hole muffin pan with cupcake cases.

Dry Ingredients

160g brown flour
60g brown sugar
60g oats
60g ground almonds
1 tsp baking soda
40g sunflower seeds
80g sultanas or raisins
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon or mixed spice

Wet Ingredients
60g butter, melted
60ml honey
60ml oil
250ml sour cream
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 grated apple

Sift the flour into a large bowl, then mix in the rest of the dry ingredients.
Make a well in the centre.
Pour in all the wet ingredients, including the apple. Mix well by hand.

Spoon the batter into the prepared cupcake cases and bake for 18-20minutes or until golden brown.

Tip 1: if you're using a 1/4 cup measure to get your 60ml  - measure the oil out first, then use the same measuring cup for the honey. The honey will pour out of the cup very easily because it's oiled!
Tip 2: Even though these are muffins, use cupcake cases - who wants to/ has the time to scrape baked muffin mixture out of the pan?!

Enjoy!

xxM 

Monsters! (Monster Decorated Cookies)

Apparently, monster cookies are not these...

or these...

Uh-uh.
 If you're looking on Pinterest, or Google "Monster cookies" you'll discover that they (monster cookies) are peanut butter-oatmeal cookies, packed with chocolate chips and M&M's. Apologies if you know all this already. But they're not a South African thing. (Yet... They look and sound yummy, though - so let's start the trend, SAfrican bakers!)

So, these are monster decorated cookies. (Let's ignore the fact that the word cookie has all sorts of other connotations in South Africa, shall we?!)

Monster (decorated) cookies, are such fun to create.  You can basically take any cutter and turn it into  a monster, with a little imagination.

Can you match the cutter and the cookie?

And using combinations of cutters, gives you even more options.

 (I only did that for one cookie, though - using the russian doll and the caterpillar. Cutting out multiple combinations of multiple cookies for a class was just too daunting!)

Have a look at this post by Klickitat Street  to see some great ideas of how to use combinations of cutters. 

Such fun! And just look at how happy that pineapple was to be made into a cute monster!

Happy decorating!

xxM