Bran Muffins

My Mom originally got this recipe from a friend years ago and it was then called ’30 Day Muffins’. Since we usually ate them immediately, I’m afraid I can’t vouch for what the results would be after 30 days. To be honest, I would be very surprised if they were still edible!

Depending on who filled the muffin pans though, we did occasionally have a couple of spoons of mix left after the first batch, sometimes enough for a muffin or two a few days later (although only if the mix was well hidden at the back of the fridge). The second batch of muffins still tasted good, even if they didn’t rise as much. The trick is to keep the raw mixture in the fridge and only bake the muffins when you want to eat them.

This recipe requires a bit of forward planning as the mixture needs to sit overnight so the bran softens and it all blends together. It’s really quick to put together the evening before though, and well worth the effort for the pleasure of fresh, delicious and fairly healthy muffins the next morning.

Spiced Carrot Cookies

These spiced bites are a bit like a carrot cake but in soft and chewy cookie form. They are perfect for a snack or teatime treat for kids or adults and you can make them as healthy as you like, depending on what ingredients you use. They are slightly sweet but not too much so and the sweetness comes naturally from the carrots, raisins and honey.

Chelsea Buns

It’s difficult to find a good chelsea bun these days. When I was growing up, there was a bakery up the road that used to make amazing ones – soft, thick and with just the right amount of raisins and icing that sort of oozed down into the bun. Sadly that bakery no longer exists, even if I did still live in the same city and could stroll up the road to it.

These days I find most chelsea buns are either too thin and crispy, more like a Danish pastry, or too sweet, a version of the Cinnabon which has made its way over from the States. Determined to try to recreate my childhood memory of the ideal chelsea bun, I experimented with adapting a recipe for sticky cinnamon buns.