Zucchini and Orange Marmalade Muffins with Cranberry and Pecans

It's another courgette recipe but it's too good not to share. I saw this on Brown Eyed Baker and the flavour combination really appealed to me. As with my previous post on biscotti, this has a distinctively festive flavour with the orange, pecan and cranberry.  The muffins were quick and easy to put together and made for a substantial breakfast. You can clearly taste the tangy marmalade which pairs well with the cranberry and pecan. You can actually see bits of green from the courgette in the muffin not that it put anyone off. I brought this to a work breakfast do and they were a real hit. Definitely on the bake again list. I also experimented with coconut sugar rather than caster sugar and to be honest I couldn't taste the difference. I was worried that it would have a coconut taste but it didn't so I will definitely be using more of my coconut sugar in the future. I like to think that this is healthier for me as it has courgettes, coconut sugar, dried fruit and nut! 

I'm sending this to a few blog challenges this month.

AlphaBakes hosted by Caroline from Caroline Makes and co hosted by myself on alternate months. The letter this month is Z for Zucchini also known as courgette. 

Extra Veg challenge hosted by Jen from Jen's Food this month. The challenge is run by Helen from Fuss Free Flavours and Michelle from Utterly Scrummy. These muffins are a great way to incorporate extra veg into your diet.

Simple and in Season hosted by Ren as courgettes are currently in season. 

No Waste Food Challenge hosted by Elizabeth from Elizabeth's Kitchen Diary. I used up the end of a jar of marmalade, an open pack of dried cranberries and a pack of pecans which I bought for something else. There was also 1 courgette left in the fridge which was exactly what I needed. 

 adding (strained) finely grated courgette 

 adding dried cranberries and pecan nuts 

 place a pecan nut on top of each muffin before baking 

 I love how you can see the green flecks from the courgette 

Recipe adapted from Brown Eyed Baker 

Makes 12 muffins 

185g plain flour

125g coconut sugar

2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 eggs

80mls vegetable oil

100g orange marmalade (I used 125g as that was all that was left in the jar) 

50g pecans, roughly chopped

120g dried cranberries

1 courgette, finely grated and strained well

• Preheat the oven to 180C.
• In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and ground cinnamon.
• In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, oil and marmalade. Stir in the courgette. 
• Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and mix briefly.
• Add in the dried cranberries and pecans and stir until just mixed.
• Divide evenly between 12 muffin cases.
• Place a whole pecan on top of each muffin before baking.
• Bake for approximately 20-25 minutes or until brown and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. 

Chocolate, orange, almond and cranberry biscotti

This sounds like a really festive bake but it's made in the middle of summer! It will definitely be a great gift at the end of the year when it's 'C' time... just can't bring myself to say it in August! This recipe is of course inspired by the current season of the Great British Bake Off. It was biscuit week in week 2 and they made biscotti. I've baked Italian biscotti once before and they weren't hugely successful so I was really pleased with how these turned out.  Clearly, I have to work on shaping these as my biscotti were huge! They passed the crunch test and tasted delicious. The flavours work really well together and it really tasted very festive with the chocolate, cranberry and orange. I'm definitely baking more biscotti in the future and might be more adventurous with flavour combinations. 

I'm sending this to Treat Petite hosted by Kat from the Baking Explorer and co hosted by Stuart from Cakeyboi. The theme this month is The Great British Bake Off.

 adding dried cranberries, chocolate chips and blanched almonds 

 Love how the orange zest turns the eggs very orange! 

 biscotti loaves 

 sliced after the first round of baking

 biscotti! 

 

375g plain flour
1.5 teaspoon baking powder
200g caster sugar
100g dark chocolate chips
75g blanched almonds (bring a pot of water to boil, add the almonds for 1 minute then strain. Remove the skins by squeezing the end of the almond)
100g dried cranberries
3 eggs
zest of 1 orange
1 teaspoon orange flavoured water

• Preheat the oven to 180C.
• Mix flour, baking powder and sugar. 
• Add in the chocolate chips, dried cranberries and blanched almonds and mix. 
• In a separate bowl, beat the eggs with the orange zest and orange flavoured water (or fresh orange juice).
• Pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture and mix well. 
• Tip the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and roll into two fat sausages. 
• Place on a baking tray spaced apart, allowing room for spreading. 
• Bake for approximately 25-30 minutes. 
• Reduce the oven temperature to 140C. 
• Allow the biscotti to cool for 10 minutes then slice diagonally using a bread knife. 
• Place the slices facing up on a baking tray and bake for a further 20 minutes or until crispy. 

Chocolate Courgette Loaf with Nutella and Dried Cranberries

I love eating courgettes but baking with them is even better! I've been patiently waiting for courgette season to try a horde of recipes that I've been saving. Top of the list is a double chocolate chunk courgette loaf cake bookmarked from Laura from I'd Much Rather Bake Than... Initially, I couln't decide between muffins and a loaf cake and in the end the loaf cake won out. I decided to change things up a little and added dried cranberries for extra sweetness and colour and my favourite nutella for the chocolate flavouring. I baked this twice as the first time was a FAIL! I didnt squeeze the water out of the courgette and the loaf was really moist but tasted good. The second time I drained all the water out and it turned out beautifully. The nutella added a hint of nuttiness to the loaf and the dried cranberries worked well with the flavours. I can't wait to bake this again and try different variations but I'm definitely trying the original recipe next. 

I'm sending this to AlphaBakes hosted by Caroline from Caroline Makes and co hosted by myself on alternate months. The letter this month is Z for Zucchini also known as courgette. 

It's also going to the Extra Veg challenge hosted by Jen from Jen's Food this month. The challenge is run by Helen from Fuss Free Flavours and Michelle from Utterly Scrummy. This is a great way to incorporate extra veg into your diet.

For the same reason it's also suitable for Eat Your Greens challenge hosted by Shaheen from A2K- A Seasonal Veg Table. 

As courgettes are in season, I'm sending it to Simple and in Season hosted by Ren. 

 I got a lovely fresh courgette from a colleague's garden - look at the size of it!

 adding in all the lovely ingredients 

 a nutella swirl on top 

 

 Love the burst of colour from the cranberries 

 This is the failed loaf - it didn't hold it's texture and sunk in the middle 

Makes 1 large loaf

2 eggs

150g brown sugar

120mls vegetable oil

1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

250g plain flour

120g dried cranberries

130g nutella plus extra for topping

2 small courgettes or 1 large courgette- grated and drained. I put mine in a clean tea towel and squezzed the water out. Worked really well. 

• Preheat the oven to 180C. 
• Prepare the courgettes - grate then drain the excess water out. 
• In a large bowl, mix the sugar, flour, bicarbonate of soda and baking powder together.
• In a smaller bowl, beat the eggs and add in the vegetable oil.
• Pour the egg and oil mixture into the dry ingredients and give it a brief stir.
• Add in the courgette, dried cranberries and nutella.
• Mix well.
• Pour into a loaf tin and level the top. Add swirls of nutella on top. 
• Bake for approximately 60 minutes but check at 45 minutes for doneness. You may need to to put a piece of foil on top to prevent the top from burning after the 45 minute mark.
• The cake is done when a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. 

Banana, walnut and chocolate coated cranberry muffins

A quick and easy recipe today. I had a few yellowing bananas as per usual so I asked J what type of banana muffin he wanted. I told him to have a root round the pantry and he came back with a pack of walnuts and  a pack of dark chocolate coated cranberries which is how this recipe came about. These muffins are really quick and easy to put together. The walnuts go really well with the bananas and the dark chocolate coated cranberries are like a little surprise when you bite into them. 

I'm sending this to the No Waste Food Challenge hosted by Elizabeth from Elizabeth's Kitchen Diary as this recipe uses up old bananas and ingredients from my cupboard. 

 ground cinnamon, bananas, walnuts, dark chocolate coated cranberries 

 adding the mashed bananas 

 adding yoghurt 

 adding flour 

 adding in the chopped walnuts and dark chocolate coated cranberries 

 ready to go in the oven 

 You can see the pockets of chocolate coated cranberries 

An original recipe by bakingaddict

2 eggs

125mls vegetable oil

3 tablespoons natural yoghurt

3 ripe bananas, roughly mashed with a fork

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

200g brown sugar

100g walnuts, roughly chopped

100g dark chocolate coated cranberries (you can use chocolate chips or dried cranberries or sultanas)

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

220g plain flour 

• Preheat the oven to 180C.
• In a large bowl, mix the flour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder, cinnamon and sugar. 
• In a separate bowl, roughly mash the bananas with a fork. 
• Add in the vegetable oil and eggs followed by the yoghurt.
• Pour the flour mixture into the banana mixture and stir briefly.
• Add in the chopped walnuts and chocolate coated cranberries.
• Stir until just mixed.
• Divide the mixture into 12 muffin cases.
• Bake for approximately 20-22 minutes or until golden brown and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. 

Cranbery, Orange, Pecan and White Chocolate Mini Loaves

It's almost Christmas and I have one final Christmas recipe to share with you. I've baked a few other things but I may save them for next year! It's been a really busy month and I've not had a chance to bake as many homemade gifts as I'd like. I wanted something relatively quick and easy yet stunning. I'm not a huge fan of fruit cake so I decided to make this very festive cake using cranberries and orange. I added in some pecan and white chocolate for indulgence and a spoonful of marmalade in the middle. I made an orange glaze to go on top of the cakes and decorated it with a lightly toasted pecan nut. The cake was incredibly moist and orange was the predominant flavour. You can clearly taste the other ingredients when you got a bite of it particularly the marmalade centre. I think I'll have to bake this again after Christmas just because it's so tasty!

I'm sending this to AlphaBakes hosted by Caroline from Caroline Makes and myself on alternate months. The letter this month is 'X' and Caroline is accepting everything Christmas related.

These mini loaves are also perfect for Treat Petite hosted by Kat from the Baking Explorer and Stuart from Cakeyboi. The theme this month is Christmas.

 marmalade, dried cranberries, oranges, pecan nuts, white chocolate chips

 half fill the mini loaf case with batter 

add a spoonful of marmalade

 cover with more batter 

 ready to be decorated 

 I poured orange glaze icing on top and placed a lightly toasted pecan nut in the centre

 Finished with a christmas ribbon for the festive touch 

Happy Christmas Everyone! 

Makes 19 mini loaves

For the cake

225g butter

350g caster sugar

450g flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

250mls milk

125mls fresh orange juice

zest of 2 oranges

4 eggs

170g dried cranberries

100g white chocolate chips

100g pecans, roughly chopped  + extra whole pecans to decorate 

Orange marmalade (optional)

For the glaze

juice of 1-2 oranges

150 -200g icing sugar

• Preheat the oven to 180C.
• Cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy,
• Add in the eggs one at a time, mixing well between each addition. 
• In a large bowl, mix the milk and orange juice.
• Sieve the flour and baking powder into another bowl.
• Add in the milk mixture alternating with the flour mixture in 3 batches.
• Add in the orange zest, dried cranberries, white chocolate chips and pecan nuts. 
• Half fill the mini loaf case with batter.
• Add a teaspoon of marmalae on top.
• Cover with more batter until about 3/4 full. 
• Bake for approximately 18-20 minutes or until golden brown and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. 
• To make the glaze, sift the icing sugar into a bowl and add the orange juice until you get a spreadable consistency. You may need to add more juice or icing sugar depending on the consistency you want. 
• Spread a generous layer of glaze on top of the cake and decorate with a whole pecan nut which has been lightly toasted.