Banana, cashew butter and chocolate chip muffins

Muffins are probably one of our favourite breakfasts to eat on the go. They are so easy to put together and they freeze well so you can jut defrost one overnight for your breakfast in the morning. As usual I had a few over ripe bananas so I decided to make some banana muffins. Recently I was contacted by My Protein who are the largest online sports supplement store in Europe. As you can imagine they sell a lot of high protein products and have a very large selection of them. Initially I wondered how I would incorporate it into baking and I was pleasantly surprised as they sell a lot of nut butters, organic flours, coconut oil, dried fruit, oats and more. I decided to try out kamut flour and cashew butter and knew they would work well in a muffin recipe. 

I've never heard of Kamut flour before so I'll just explain a little in case you haven't either. It's a wheat flour made from the ancient durum wheat relative. It's high in selenium, zinc, magnesium and protein and low in saturated fat. It has a slightly nutty flavour and a very faint smell of nut/protein. The cashew butter was absolutely delicious. It had the lovely aroma of cashew nuts and you can clearly see the nuts in the butter. 

The muffins are made of banana, cashew butter, chocolate chips and kamut flour. I added a sprinkling of raw cashew nuts on top as I had some leftover from another recipe. It adds extra crunch and flavour to the muffins. The muffins were really filling and you can clearly taste the banana and cashew butter. The chocolate chips added a little hint of naughtiness rounded up the flavours nicely. I think some fresh fruit such as blueberries and maybe a little yoghurt will lighten the muffin and make it better. Looks like there's more experimenting to be had in the kitchen! 

I'm sending these to AlphaBakes hosted by Caroline from Caroline Makes and myself on alternate months. The letter ths month is B for banana.

 cashew butter and kamut flour 

 you can clearly see the nuts in the cashew butter 

 dry ingredients + wet ingredients and chocolate chips 

 adding chocolate chips 

 I added a sprinkling of raw cashew nuts on top for extra crunch and flavour 

Makes 12 muffins
250g kamut flour
100g brown sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
3 ripe bananas, mashed
250mls milk
200g cashew butter
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 eggs
60g honey
100g dark chocolate chips.

• Preheat the oven to 180C.
• In a medium sized bowl, mix together the flour, brown sugar and baking powder and set aside.
• In a large bowl, mix the mashed bananas, milk, vegetable oil, eggs, honey and cashew butter.
• Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix until it just comes together.
• Finally stir in the chocolate chips.
• Bake for approximately 25-30 minutes or until golden brown and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. 

Disclaimer: I was sent the my protein products for review purposes. A positive review was not required and all opinions are my own. This is not a sponsored post. 

Fruit, Nut and Seed Flapjacks

This week I've been busy baking breakfast food. I've already posted my banana, blueberry and apple muffins and I have another muffin recipe to share with you later. For a change, I decided to make some chunky flapjacks which are brilliant for breakfast on the go. I bought some packets of fruit, nut and seed mix from Aldi as healthier snacks during a recent road trip. However, we didn't get round to eating them so I thought I'd use them to make flapjacks. These are really crunchy and chunky and I loved the addition of the fruits, nuts and seeds.  

 adding the fruit, nut and seed mix 

 I used my individual loaf tray to get chunky flapjacks 

Makes 6 large, chunky flapjacks
150g butter
125g golden caster sugar
50g golden syrup
225g porridge oats
2 tablespoons plain flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
200g dried fruit, nut and seed mix

• Preheat the oven to 180C.
• Melt the butter, sugar and golden syrup in a medium sized pan. 
• In a medium sized bowl, mix the oats, cinnamon and flour.
• Add the oat mixture to the butter mixture and stir.
• Add in the fruit, nut and seed mix and sitr well. 
• Spoon into the baking tray (you can use a shallow baking tin) and level the top with a spatula.
• Bake for approximately 30 minutes or until golden brown. 
• Cut into squares before serving (if you used a shallow baking tin). 

Cinnamon, Fruit & Nut Mix Cookies

These cookies are inspired by a pack of fruit and nut mix with cinnamon dusted milk chocolate almonds that I found in the shops. I decided to add in more cinnamon, some chopped chocolate as I had a bit leftover and leftover berry mix (raisins, sultanas and dried cranberries). I also used wholemeal flour and oats to make it seem healthier! They were absolutely delicious. I love the cinnamon which was strong but not overpowering and it was the perfect balance of fruit, nut and chocolate. 

I'm sending this to the Biscuit Barrel Challenge hosted by Laura from I'd Much Rather Bake Than... who has chosen the theme "Spices" The recipe contains quite a bit of cinnamon which is perfect for this time of the year. 

I'm also sending this to the No Waste Food Challenge hosted by Elizabeth from Elizabeth's Kitchen Diary. I used up my leftover chocolate and berry mix. 

An original recipe by bakingaddict

225g butter
220g dark brown sugar
180g wholemeal flour
250g oats
2 teaspoons baking powder
2.5 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 eggs
150g fruit & nut mix with cinnamon dusted milk chocolate almonds
70g chocolate, chopped
100g berry mix (raisins, sultanas, dried cranberries)

• Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease and line 2 baking trays.
• Cream the butter and sugar for a few minutes.
• Add in egss one at at time a mix well.
• Mix in flour, baking powder, ground cinnamon and oats.
• Finally stir in the fruit, nuts, chocolate and berry mix. 
• Using a small ice cream scoop, place round balls of dough spaced apart on a baking tray.
• Bake for approximately 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.
• Allow to cool on the tray for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
• The cookies will harden as they cool. 

Tiffin or refrigerator cake

I've been baking mostly healthy treats this month but I did promise a few naughty treats as well. This is so easy to make but oh so naughty. It's a refrigerator cake or tiffin and it's a really simple no bake recipe which you can easily prepare in advance. I used digestive biscuits, rich tea biscuits, marhsmallows and mixed fruit and nut. I gave these away as gifts and they were very well received.

I'm entering this to Dead Easy Desserts hosted by Sarah from Maison Cupcake as these take less than 30 minutes to make excluding chilling time.

150g milk chocolate
150g dark chocolate
100g butter
150g golden syrup
100g mixed fruit and nut
140g digestive biscuits, lightly crushed
140g rich tea biscuits, lightly crushed
100g mini marshmallows
50g raisins or dried cranberries

*note you can use any combination of fillings that you like - fruits, nuts, seeds, biscuits, honeycomb. Just ensure there is enough chocolate mixture to cover the filling

• Melt the chocolate, butter and golden syrup in a bowl over a pan of simmering water. 
• Remove from the heat and stir in the other ingredients.
• Pour into a square tin and level with a palette knife.
• Allow to set in the fridge for a few hours or preferably overnight.
• Cut into squares and enjoy.