Muffins!

Today was Baby D's first birthday party. It was a wonderful day where everything just worked, and I was thrilled and proud that all my plans worked out and my sociable happy baby had a ball!

As D has never really had anything sugary, I didn't want to overload him today. Obviously I made lots of bold things, but plenty of healthy bits too so he wasn't totally left out! We had two types of drumsticks (see the lemon and tarragon ones posted previously), fruit skewers, sugar free jelly and these muffins which were all fine for him. And I was pleasantly surprised with the older kids that the fruit skewers disappeared almost immediately, long before the rice krispie squares!

These recipes are from the baby led weaning cookbook but I thought I'd share my thoughts and tweaks.

Carrot & Orange muffins:
*In the cookbook these are just carrot, with an option to add orange. Add the orange, trust me :)

150g (5½oz) self raising flour,
60g (2oz) unsalted butter,
2 large eggs, beaten,
2 medium carrots, grated finely,
3-4 tbsps milk (you may not need this when you add the orange, but I threw in a splash, probably a tbsp or two),
Zest and juice of one orange.

Preheat the oven to 190 and line a muffin tray with paper cases.
Sift the flour into a bowl and make a well in the centre.
Melt the butter in a small pan over a low heat. In a separate bowl combine the eggs and grated carrot, then add the butter, orange juice and zest and mix well. Pour the carrot mixture into the flour and fold together lightly.
Add milk if needed to give it a soft consistency, then spoon the mixture into the muffin tray.
The book recommends baking for ten to fifteen minutes. Use that as a guide, mine took longer. Just bake til golden brown and springy.

Tip: Wait til they're totally cool before taking one out of the paper case, as they're quite dense and moist and when warm they don't like to leave the paper!


Banana muffins:
150g (5½oz) self raising flour,
½ tsp ground cinnamon,
60g (2oz) unsalted butter,
4 large very ripe bananas,
2 large eggs, beaten.

Preheat the oven to 190 and line a muffin tray with paper cases.
Sift the flour and cinnamon into a bowl and make a well in the centre.
Melt the butter in a small pan over a low heat.
In a separate bowl,
mash the bananas to a smooth thick puree with a fork. Add the eggs and butter and mix well.
Pour the banana mixture into the flour and fold together lightly, then spoon into the muffin tray.
Again, bake until golden and springy, and wait til cool before taking out of the paper case.

These are so tasty, and quite dense like "real" muffins!