Why did the little boy eat yeast and shoe polish before going to bed?
So he could rise and shine in the morning!
Ha ha! If it were only that easy! I’m relaunching The Worktop today with a focus on breakfast and brunch foods. Yum!
Every morning, the thought of breakfast and coffee is what gets me up out of bed. I’m lucky since I work at a coffee shop. All I really have to do is cycle myself over to the shop in the morning, and I can get the best cup of coffee in London, on the house. Also, London is a great place to be for breakfast and brunch because new brunch dishes are always showing up on menus, and new cafes are constantly popping up.
After a year of sporadically writing about all things I cook on my worktop, I’ve decided to focus The Worktop on breakfast and brunch foods prepared by me, other home cooks, and London cafes. I’ll be looking for guest bloggers to show us how they do breakfasts on their worktops. I’ll also be interviewing cafes to get a glimpse of breakfasts prepared on professional worktops. I hope you join me along the way, either by writing a guest post, or by reading about breakfast and brunches on The Worktop and sharing your thoughts.
I’ll leave you today with a recipe for my latest breakfast love, healthy breakfast zucchini and oat muffins. Best served with cream cheese, so it’s like a bagel but not, and healthier!
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup walnuts
- 2 medium eggs
- 1/4 cup white sugar
- 1/4 cup light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup oil (sunflower, canola or vegetable)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1 cup whole wheat flour (wholemeal)
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- pinch of nutmeg
- 1/4 cup creme fraiche
- 2 medium zucchinis (about 200 grams) - finely grated
- 1 large carrot - finely grated
- 1/2 cups oats
- 1 tablespoon turbinado sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F / 175 C.
- Line a muffin tin with paper liners, or grease muffin tin with oil.
- In a small pan, lightly toast the walnuts in a bit of oil over medium heat for about five minutes.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
- In a large bowl, using a hand mixer on medium speed, cream together the eggs, white sugar and brown sugar, oil and vanilla.
- Slowly stir in the flour mixture and mix until just incorporated.
- Stir in the creme fraiche, zucchini, carrot and toasted walnuts.
- For the topping, in a small bowl, mix together the oats and demerara (turbinado) sugar.
- Fill muffin cups to about 3/4 full.
- Evenly divide and sprinkle the oat and sugar mixture on top of the muffins. It will look like a lot of oats on top, but the muffin will expand and spread it out.
- Bake for about 40 minutes. Muffins are done when the top is lightly golden, and a toothpick inserted in the middle of a muffin comes out mostly clean.
- Cool for about 5 minutes before removing the muffins from the tin.
- Serve with cream cheese.
Kaytie says
Just wanted to say that I tried this recipe and it came out fantastic! I did substitute a couple things, because I didn’t feel like going to the store: I made oat flour for the wheat flour, added half a mashed banana in place of the vegetable oil, and completely forgot the creme fraiche (whoops) but the muffins still came out moist and delicious! Thanks for a great recipe!
Vera says
Tina,
Congratulations on the relaunch.
I adore Breakfast & Brunch. Your new focus on these will certainly help me to expand my horizons and probably my waistline as well.
Vera
The Worktop says
Thanks, Vera! And congratulations on your new blog!
ATasteOfMadness says
I love muffins for breakfast! However, I have never made anything with zucchini before. I must try soon!
The Worktop says
Let me know how it goes when you try baking with zucchini! Super easy to bake with.
Jun Jhen Lew says
Had some of the muffins Tina made, they were absolutely delish!
Congrats on the relaunch of the site :)
The Worktop says
Yum yum. Thanks for helping me clear out the pan of muffins!
Thalia @ butter and brioche says
I have never baked with zucchini before. Clearly it is something that I need to do! These zucchini and oat muffins look and sound seriously delicious.. I bet the zucchini makes them extra moist too.
The Worktop says
Zucchinis are so easy to bake with, and they make it all a bit healthier!
Katie (The Muffin Myth) says
Haha, rise and shine. Love it! These muffins look great. I love whole grain muffins and using zucchini adds so much moisture. Cream cheese would add a touch of luxury in the morning as well. Thanks for the recipe!
The Worktop says
Haha, I love morning jokes, so if you ever hear any others, do share :)
Thea @ Baking Magique says
I love these! The combination of oats and zucchini sounds wonderful!