Category: breakfast/brunch

Gingerbread Spiced Muffins with a Crumble Topping

There’s something so inspiring about the run up to Christmas for cooking and baking, it just makes me want to get into the kitchen and recipe develop like crazy! Maybe it’s the dark days, or maybe it’s the Christmas spices and thoughts of sharing with friends and family.

I haven’t spent enough time creating in the past few months – I’ve been doing a new job which has taken far too much of my time and energy (even on days when I’m not meant to be working), and I’ve decided that has got to stop. I need to get baking again, to test myself with new recipes and challenges because that is when I’m most energised. This week alone I’ve created three new recipes, so expect lots more posts coming up soon 🙂

Unbelievably our local Christmas lights turned on last night (it was only the 15th November!), so it suddenly felt Christmassy and I had to go a little festive and introduce some warm spice into the mix.

This is a knock out recipe for warming spiced muffins, with all the scents of Christmas rolled into one irresistible fluffy muffin topped with a crunchy crumble topping. This particular muffin recipe gives a great, authentic texture and rise which is perfect for the subtle spice. I particularly like the contrasting texture of the crumble topping, and think it really does add to the whole effect. Do add more spice if that is your preference, I kept mine subtle to please all members of the family!

These were delicious warm straight from the cooling rack, but I’m also thinking they’d make a fabulous Christmas breakfast or brunch.

Gingerbread Spiced Muffins with a Crumble Top

(dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free, soya-free, sesame-free, vegetarian and vegan)

makes 12 large muffins

85g soft brown sugar

1 tbsp baking powder

250g plain flour

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

115g dairy-free margarine, melted

150ml dairy-free milk

150ml dairy-free yogurt

75ml golden or maple syrup

for the crumble topping:

1 tbsp oats

3 tbsp plain flour

1 tbsp demerara sugar

1 tbsp margarine

pinch of salt

pinch of cinnamon

  1. First make the crumble top: rub the margarine into the other ingredients to make a lumpy mix. Set aside
  2. Heat the oven to 190 degrees Centigrade.
  3. Fill a muffin tray with liners.
  4. Mix all the dry ingredients together. Pour in the wet ingredients and combine. You want not clumps of raw flour but do not overtax, lumpy is good.
  5. 1/2 fill the liners and then sprinkle over the crumble top
  6. Bake for 20 minutes, or until risen and golden and a knife comes out clean.
  7. Cool on a wire rack.

lucylox3 Comments

Chocolate Pancakes with Rich Chocolate Sauce

Everyone loves pancakes, and it is essential to have a good few recipes for creating quick and exciting breakfasts or puddings, and obviously for Shrove Tuesday a.k.a. Pancake Day 🙂

It would be logical to presume it wouldn’t be possible to make nice pancakes without the milk and eggs, because in essence a pancake is just milk, eggs and flour. But you would be very wrong, it is in fact very easy to make delicious, authentic tasting and looking pancakes without any milk or eggs in sight. I have, mind, eaten some bad rubbery vegan pancakes along the way, but these are not them. These turn out as lovely light, puffy pancakes (yes no egg needed involved!). Perfect for eating from a stack and smothered in sauce.

We’re generally a sugar and lemon, or golden syrup household, but the picture on the cover of this month’s Waitrose food magazine of these chocolate pancakes tempted me in. Chocolate pancakes covered in chocolate sauce looked so deliciously double chocolatey good, that I had to have a tweak of the recipe to make it dairy and egg-free.

And they’re good. We had them as a dessert, as I am not sure I can cope with that rich chocolate sauce at breakfast time. But you never know! There’s a sinful breakfast right there if you want one.

Happy Pancake Day to all. I hope you enjoy these deliciously chocolatey pancakes as much as we did.

Chocolate Pancakes

(dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free, soya-free, sesame-free, vegetarian  and vegan)

makes approx 10-12 pancakes

1 cup plain flour

2 tsp baking powder

2 tbsp cocoa powder

2 tbsp caster sugar

pinch of salt

1 tbsp flavourless oil, I used sunflower

1 cup dairy-free milk

  1. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, cocoa, sugar and salt.
  2. Pour in the oil and milk and whisk to make a smooth batter. If possible leave to rest for half an hour before using.
  3. Heat a frying pan to medium hot, wipe with a dab of oil and fry ladlefuls of the batter. You will know it’s time to turn them over because the bubbles will rise to the surface of the pancake showing it’s time to flip.
  4. Keep warm in the oven until ready to serve.

Rich Chocolate Sauce

(dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free, sesame-free, gluten-free, can be soya-free, vegetarian and vegan)

50g dairy-free chocolate

1 tbsp dairy-free margarine

1 tbsp maple or golden syrup

2 tbsp dairy-free milk

  1. Gently melt all the ingredients together, either in a saucepan or in the microwave.

lucylox2 Comments

Chocolate Twists – The Ultimate Easy Breakfast Pastry

As a family we struggle to find exciting breakfasts, and generally revert to good old toast or cereal. However, sometimes it’s nice to have an exciting, fancy breakfast; one that feels a little more luxurious than the usual. Sadly, it seems to me that most exciting breakfasts involve some combination of dairy, eggs or nuts, which is certainly not ideal in our household, and makes most exciting options out of bounds.

I always feel particularly bad when we go to France and the girls can’t tuck into a crisp flaky croissant or Pain au Chocolat like (it seems) everyone else. I have made my own rather successful Pain au Chocolat which are dairy-free but they do take a good few hours to laminate the layers, and I’m sure not many people have the time to make homemade viennoiserie too often. Personally, I think it’s a great way to spend a day, but then I’m a bit of a baking fanatic 😉

This recipe is essentially a quick an easy version of a chocolate filled breakfast pastry and is based on those chocolate twists you see in coffee shops or bakery counters. I think a twist is a very appealing pastry, with the filling peeping out of the turns between the layers of golden pastry. Served warm with a little dusting of icing sugar these chocolate twists are the perfect, easy breakfast pastry. They also freeze brilliantly, so I bake a batch to freeze then in the morning i place it frozen into the microwave for 20 seconds to thaw, then into the oven for 5 minutes to warm. Ta Da, the perfect fresh warm pastry for breakfast heaven!

Chocolate Twists

(dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free, sesame-free, can be soya-free, vegetarian and vegan)

300ml dairy-free milk, I used Oatly

3 tbsp dairy-free margarine, such as Pure

450-500g plain flour

2 tsp dried yeast

50g or 1/4 cup sugar

2 tsp chocolate extract [optional] or vanilla essence

1/2 tsp salt

2 tbsp cornflour

For the filling:

1/3 cup caster sugar

2 tbsp cocoa powder

3 tbsp dairy-free spread

50g dairy-free chocolate, finely chopped [optional]

  1. Melt the margarine and milk together – you want it to be warm and melted but not hot
  2.  In a bowl mix together the flour, yeast, sugar, cinnamon, cornflour and salt. Make a well in the centre and pour in the warm milk.
  3. Bring together to a soft dough and knead until its smooth and bounces back when prodded. Cover and let double in size
  4. Mix together the filling ingredients (except the chopped chocolate) to form a soft paste. Set aside.
  5. Knock back the risen dough and roll out to a large long rectangle
  6. Smear on the chocolate paste. Sprinkle over the chocolate pieces, then fold in half
  7. Cut into even slices and twist each one to form a lovely swirly pastry
  8. Place on lined and greased baking pans and cover and leave to rise again for another half an hour
  9. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Centigrade/Gas Mark 4/375 degrees F
  10. Bake for 17-20 minutes until risen, golden and cooked through
  11. Dust with icing sugar before serving

lucylox1 Comment

Gingerbread Welsh Cakes

I’m very fond of Welsh Cakes, I think they’re under-appreciated and overlooked in the world of teatime treats, unless you’re in Wales that is! They’re basically a little griddle cake or drop scone, usually subtly spiced and filled with dried fruit. Here is a rather tasty Autumnal version from me, bringing the warming spices of gingerbread to Welsh cakes.

The inspiration came from D who just went on a crazy mission to the rugged Snowdonia coastline in Wales to take part in a madcap 10km swim up a cold river estuary. It certainly is one of the last ways I would want to spend my weekend, but he loves swimming, particularly in beautiful surroundings, and couldn’t pass up this challenging opportunity. It was a massive achievement which involved over ten hours of driving, little sleep and 2 hours 40 minutes of swimming all in a 24 hour period.

So as a little ‘well done’, with a nod to the Autumnal weather and Wales, I created these little gingerbread Welsh Cakes. The perfect sweet pick me up after a challenging day.

Again, like my last two sweet ’emergency ready’ recipes, Welsh cakes are ideal to make at the last minute. They’re made in a flash and work perfectly in any teatime setting. Serve warm, spread with dairy-free margarine for some truly happy guests.

Gingerbread Welsh Cakes

(dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free, soya-free, sesame-free, vegetarian and vegan)

makes 8-12

1 cup of plain flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

a pinch of salt

1/4 cup dairy-free margarine

1/4 cup soft brown sugar

3/4 tsp ground ginger

1 tbsp golden syrup

1 tsp black treacle

1 tbsp dairy-free milk

caster sugar, to sprinkle

  1. Sift the flour, baking powder, salt and spice into a bowl.
  2. Rub in the margarine until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar.
  3. Add the dairy-free milk, syrup and treacle and mix to form a slightly sticky dough.
  4. Roll out on a floured board and cut out shaped with a cookie cutter – circles are the traditional shape but any would be fine.
  5. Heat a dry non-stick frying pan (or any frying pan wiped with a smear of spread)
  6. When hot add the cakes and dry fry/griddle for 2-3 minutes on either side until golden.
  7. Sprinkle with caster sugar and serve.
  8. To reheat warm in an oven or microwave

lucylox1 Comment

Dairy-free Pain au Chocolat – New Improved Recipe

 

One of the true joys of a French holiday are morning trips to the boulangerie to buy fresh crusty baguettes, croissants and pain au chocolat for breakfast. Every morning, little S would come and buy the fresh bread and pastries first thing and then look enviously at our pain au chocolat on the breakfast table. So I made a promise to make a batch on return.

Since last summer’s wonderful holiday in Corsica, I’ve got in the habit of regularly making friendly pain au chocolat for the girls. It’s been a mixed blessing, they’ve got rather used to freshly made viennoiserie for breakfast, so I end up making them often which takes time, but my croissant dough skiIlls have improved dramatically.

This new improved recipe has been gradually tweaked over the last year and I think we’ve finally got a jolly authentic, flaky and ‘buttery’ dough. The lamination has proved the tricky part of the recipe. Besides being the most time consuming aspect, I suffered for months with the layers simply disappearing which is really demoralising when you’ve spent hours putting them there in the first place! After some in-depth research it seems the crucial detail for lamination is that the fat content of the ‘butter replacement’ has to be around 82%. It’s that precise. In the UK our dairy-free margarines are predominantly water-based with fat coming way down the list of ingredients. If you use such a margarine the water just makes steam and you get a bready dough rather than buttery flaky layers. Makes total sense doesn’t it.

After much experimentation I’ve found that it works best to combine a mixture of dairy-free margarine such as Pure with a baking spread such as Stork (in the foil wrapper) and a touch of flour. This combination makes a great fat-rich butter substitute which also provides the right ‘buttery’ flavour.

Surely a good flaky Pain au Chocolat is possibly the most perfect breakfast item ever 🙂

Dairy-free Homemade Pain au Chocolat

(dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free, sesame-free, can be soya-free, vegetarian and vegan)

makes 16

500g strong bread flour

90g caster sugar

10g instant yeast

10g salt

100ml dairy-free milk (I used Oatly)

250ml cold water

150g dairy-free margarine

150g baking fat

1 tbsp flour

160g dark dairy-free chocolate chopped into batons

a sprinkle of caster sugar

melted dairy-free margarine for brushing

  1. Sift the flour into a mixing bowl and add the sugar, salt and yeast.
  2. Pour in the dairy-free milk and water and stir. Once come together, knead well to form a soft and springy dough (about 5-10 minutes).
  3. Cover and leave to rise for a couple of hours
  4. Meanwhile, put the dairy-free margarine on to some cling film, sprinkle with the flour and then top with the baking fat (making a kind of sandwich affair) and loosely wrap. Roll out to a square shape, and place in the fridge or freezer to harden.
  5. Once the dough has risen, turn out onto a floured surface and knead until a smooth dough. Cut a cross on top of the dough ball and roll out the leaves (see photo below)
  6. Place the cooled ‘butter’ in the middle and fold the four flaps over the ‘butter’ making sure it is entirely encased with dough.
  7. Roll out and fold into thirds twice
  8. Place back in the fridge for thirty minutes or so, then roll out and fold back into thirds twice more. Repeat two or three times.
  9. Rest in the fridge for 30 minutes more.
  10. Roll out to form a large rectangle. Cut into four long strips, halve each.
  11. Place a line of chocolate at one narrow end and roll over to cover. Add another chocolate baton and continue rolling up.
  12. Loosely cover with cling film and let rise on the baking tray for 30 minutes.
  13. Brush with the melted margarine and sprinkle with caster sugar
  14. Bake at 200 degrees centigrade for 20 minutes 

 

lucylox7 Comments

Tropical Breakfast Muffins and Smoothie

It seems to have taken forever for proper spring/summer to arrive this year. Even last week I was wearing wool gloves on my early morning walk to the station! At last now we’ve suddenly experienced a few rays of proper sunshine and a glimmer of heat which will let my recipes turn distinctly sunnier in vibe (let’s not mention the deluge of rain that happened yesterday!)

As a member of Foodies100 I came across a blogger challenge to use the new Vita Coco coconut milk in a breakfast recipe for the TastesLikeNoUdder hashtag challenge. Obviously using a new dairy-free milk substitute is right up my street, so I jumped at the chance. Whilst we love Oatly, maybe there’s another milk alternative out there to add to our repertoire?

The challenge involved creating a breakfast recipe using this lovely thick and rich new coconut milk from Vita Coco. This is what they say themselves about their new product:

Vita Coco has always been nuts about coconuts, and this month there’s even more reason to celebrate, with the launch of the company’s dairy-free coconut milk alternative.

Vita Coco Coconut Milk Alternative has no added sugar and if free of both gluten and soy. It’s the perfect healthy choice for breakfast, making a perfect topping for cereals, or to replace milk in your morning cuppa.

Unlike other coconut milk alternatives which are made with a whole lot of water, Vita Coco Coconut Milk is made with 70% coconut, making sure it really does taste like no udder!

The milk certainly is rich, creamy and coconutty. Personally, I think it’s a mistake to try and hide coconut in a recipe, as I find it such a strong flavour that can overpower the other ingredients. So in making these muffins with accompanying smoothie, I’ve let the coconut flavour shine out; let the coconut rule I say! Coconut immediately made me think tropical, so we have some delicious tropical muffins flavoured with coconut milk and mango and banana. Imagine swinging in a hammock on a tropical beach in muffin form, that’s the basic vibe I was going for.

I’ve put in quantities for either fresh or dried mango – the fresh gives fruity nuggets like you would find in a blueberry muffin, but if you prefer a drier texture more like a chocolate chip muffin I’d suggest using dried mango.

Clearly with half a mango remaining and some more luscious coconut milk to use up, an accompanying tropical smoothie was the obvious choice. The coconut milk gives a wonderful velvety creamy texture and is enhanced with mango, banana and pineapple. Sunshine in a sip!

This recipe is an entry into the Dairy Free Style Your Breakfast challenge with Vita Coco and Foodies100. See more great breakfast ideas athttp://vitacoco.com/uk/

Tropical Breakfast Muffins

(dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free, soya-free, sesame-free, vegetarian and vegan)

makes 6

1 cup plain flour

1/3rds cup soft brown sugar

1 and 1/2 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

1/4 cup dairy-free margarine, melted (or sunflower oil)

1 small banana, mashed

1/3 cup coconut milk

1/2 mango, in a small dice or 1/2 cup dried mango pieces

1 tbsp soft brown sugar fro sprinkling

2 tbsp coconut flakes to decorate [optional]

  1.  Preheat the oven to 190 Degrees Centigrade/Gas Mark 5. Line a muffin pan
  2. In a bowl mix together the coconut milk, banana and melted dairy-free margarine. Set aside.
  3. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Stir in the sugar.
  4. Make a well in the centre and pour in the wet ingredients. Mix until just combined (make sure you don’t over mix, it wants to look a little lumpy).
  5. Gently stir in the mango
  6. 2/3rds fill each muffin liner. Sprinkle a little sugar on the top of each and some faked coconut if desired.
  7. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden on top and a knife comes out clean.
  8. Cool on a wire rack.
  9. These are best eaten on the day they are made

Best served with this delicious smoothie!

Tropical Smoothie

(dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free, soya-free, sesame-free, gluten-free, vegetarian and vegan)

serves 2-3

1 cup/240ml coconut milk

1 banana, chopped

1/2 mango

3 slices of pineapple, cut into chunks

  1. Blitz until smooth
  2. Enjoy!

lucylox2 Comments