Level 2 Chi Kung.
Saturdays are much more cruisy now that there is only Dashi’s guitar lesson to go to and Katie seems to be enjoying her unstructured time, with no second thoughts about giving up Stagecoach. I was leafing through The Guardian cooking supplement in the early evening and had the sudden urge to make a batch of Ruby Tandoh’s breakfast muffins (recipe below). They were easy-peasy and, though Nick didn’t care for them, I loved them and scarfed down four, straight from the oven. So nice to eat a real muffin – often what passes for a muffin in the UK is more like a fairy cake or an un-iced cupcake, but these were the real, wholemeal, deal.
Wholemeal seeded breakfast muffins
This is a one-bowl recipe, which might be as much as anyone can or should commit to for a morning bake. And thanks to a generous hand with the seeds and a dose of wholemeal, these are as filling as they are easy to make. You could swap in finely chopped walnuts, hazelnuts or peanuts for the seeds if you prefer.
Makes 8-10
75ml sunflower or corn oil
2 tbsp peanut butter
30ml milk
2 large eggs
60g soft light brown sugar
100g plain wholemeal flour
1½ tsp baking powder
A pinch of salt
75g seeds – a mix of sunflower, pumpkin and sesame works well
1 Line a 12-hole cupcake tin with paper muffin cases and preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4.
2 Whisk the oil, peanut butter, milk, eggs and sugar together in a large bowl. Once combined, add the flour, baking powder and salt and stir gently until smooth. Mix in all but 2 tbsp of the seeds.
3 Divide the batter between the muffin cases until they’re no more than ¾ full, then scatter the remaining seeds on top. Bake for 20 minutes or so in the preheated oven, testing with a small knife to check that the centres are set.
4 When they’re ready, they ought to be well-risen and springy to the touch. Best eaten fresh from the oven.