Waddling Along

What I'm beginning to feel like...

Only about two months to go until Baby H arrives, and I'm definitely feeling the effects of my ever expanding bump! I've got the teeniest, tiniest waddle going on now, and though I've made a real effort to keep as active as possible, I'm definitely slowing down. Yesterday we brought a visiting friend up Cave Hill to take advantage of the lovely weather and show her some breathtaking views of Belfast. I huffed and puffed my way up, stopping a few times to catch my breath and feeling sorry for my more energetic and agile companions. At least I'd managed to feed them a good breakfast before we set off.

Apple, walnut, and raisin muffins... yum!

Apple, Walnut, and Raisin Muffins
Adapted from Rachel Allen's Bake

600 ml Basic Muffin Batter (recipe follows)
1 large apple, peeled, cored, and chopped
1 tsp ground cinnamon
100 g raisins
50 g walnuts, chopped

Just mix everything together, pour it into 16 or so muffin tins lined with muffin cases, and bake in an oven preheated to 180ºC for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of one of the muffins comes out clean. 

Basic Muffin Batter
3 eggs
125 g brown sugar
100 g caster sugar
500 ml milk
125 ml vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
300 g plain flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 rounded tsp bicarbonate of soda
160 g wholemeal flour
25 g oat bran

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and sugars together and add the milk, oil, and vanilla extract. In a separate bowl, sift the plain flour, salt, and bicarbonate of soda together, then add the wholemeal flour and bran. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet, and there you have it, your basic muffin batter. 

Rachel Allen calls this '30-Day Muffin Recipe' because you can keep the batter in the fridge for as long as that, making different variations of the muffins as you go. I'm thinking of a pumpkin spiced variation for the rest of the batter now sitting in my fridge...

xx Tina