Breakfast Muffins & Green Seasons Cookbook
Muffins for breakfast are a real treat, especially if you eat them warm from the oven. These ones are slightly healthier than the average. They’re made with spelt flour and contain yoghurt, berries and dark chocolate.
As some of you will know, I’m a vegetarian and have been so for about twenty years. I have to confess that this is not a hardship as I’m not particularly keen on meat and never liked fish. One not so fine day at the village primary school, I sat for an hour chewing on a piece of gristle which I just could not bring myself to swallow. For those were the days when you were not allowed to leave the dining room until you had cleared your plate. I had packed lunches from then on and although I always ate my mother’s meat dishes, that was the day meat fell from favour.
Green Seasons Cookbook
So what’s this got to do with chocolate you may well ask? Well, one of my go to vegetarian cookbooks is Rachel Demuth’s Green Seasons. Rachel is a fantastic vegetarian cook and not only, in my humble opinion, has the best restaurant in Bath – Demuths, but also runs a vegetarian cookery school. I did a day’s course there on Middle Eastern cookery a couple of years ago and it was fantastic.
The book is divided into the four seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter for ease of using seasonal produce. And it’s also conveniently colour coded to help keep you on track. Each season is divided into seasonal vegetables, small eats, large eats and sweet eats. It includes such delights as: sorrel fritata, beetroot tzatsiki, courgette filo pie and leek and potato hash.
The book does of course have some chocolate recipes, as you can see with this recipe for delicious breakfast muffins. Mexican chocolate pudding has been on my list since I first got the book, but it took me a while to actually make it. Nor have I yet made the white chocolate cheesecake, the chocolate pistachio roulade and the chocolate cheesecake brownies.
A Win plus a Givaway
Anyway, the real point of this post is that I recently had a lovely surprise. I’m thrilled that Rachel picked me as a finalist in the recent Vegetarian Cookery School’s veggie breakfast competition. It was for my frumenty recipe. One of these days I will put it on the blog.
Although, sadly, I didn’t win the grand prize of a cookery school place, the ten finalists won a copy of Green Seasons. Now as I already have a copy of the book, I asked if it would be OK to use it as a giveaway on my blog instead. So you are now in the lucky position of having a chance to win your very own copy.
Breakfast Muffins
Sundays is the day I do the housework, the washing and various other chores – it’s always really busy. Today I have the additional task of making the annual batch of chilli sauce. So, just to give myself a bit more work and, more crucially, the incentive to keep me going, I decided to make some muffins for breakfast. I used Rachel Demuth’s recipe for Blackberry & Chocolate Muffins in Green Season’s Cookbook. Having discovered last week what a good combination chocolate and ground cherries made, I substituted the blackberries for ground cherries.
As mentioned earlier I used spelt flour rather than plain. And the spelt flour was a mixture of both white and wholemeal.
Unless you grow your own, ground cherries are hard to get hold of. So it’s fine to swap them for your berry of choice. Blueberries are an obvious one, though blackberries or raspberries would be good too.
We ate some of the breakfast muffins warm from the oven. Some of them anyway. They were great, not sweet, but with a big energy giving chocolate and berry boost. What a nice change from a slice of toast eaten whilst dashing to the station in the mornings. I might have to do this more often.
Other Ground Cherry Recipes You Might Like
- Chocolate ground cherry upside-down cake
- Coconut and ground cherry blondies
- Eve’s pudding with apples and ground cherries
If you’re after more breakfast ideas, why not take a look at some of my breakfast recipes?
Stay in Touch
Thanks for visiting Tin and Thyme. If you try this recipe for breakfast muffins, with or without the ground cherries, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below. Do share photos on social media too and use the hashtag #tinandthyme, so I can spot them.
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Breakfast Muffins. PIN IT.
Breakfast Muffins – The Recipe
Breakfast Muffins
Ingredients
- 300 g spelt flour (200g white, 100g wholemeal)
- 1 heaped tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- large pinch of fine sea or rock salt
- 2 large eggs (I used duck eggs)
- 75 g golden granulated or caster sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 100 ml natural yoghurt
- 100 ml milk
- 200 g ground cherries (or berries of your choice)
- 100 g bar of 70% chocolate - chopped
- 100 g unsalted butter - melted
Instructions
- Sift the flours into a large bowl along with the baking powder, cinnamon and salt.
- Beat in the eggs together with the sugar and vanilla extract until smooth.
- Add this to the flour together with the yoghurt and milk and mix until just incorporated.
- Fold in the ground cherries and chocolate bits.
- Finally stir in the melted butter.
- Divide the mixture between 12 muffin holes lined with cases and bake in a preheated oven at 200℃ (400℉, Gas 6) for about 20 mins until risen and golden.
Notes
Nutrition
Sharing
I’m sharing these ground cherry breakfast muffins with Lost in Food for #CookBlogShare.
Jane Willis
26th June 2012 at 5:52 amThere are so many it’s hard to decide. Right now I fancy a tarka dhall but tomorrow it might be butternut squash risotto.
lapin d'or
26th June 2012 at 6:34 amAt this time of year my favouite vegetarina dish is asparagus risotto
Galina Varese
26th June 2012 at 7:06 amPasta alla genovese was my first thought, since I cook it often, but then of course, there are so many fab vegetarian Russian dishes too that I love, like pirozhki with rice and mushrooms. @maximka25
Thank you!
philippa_moore
26th June 2012 at 7:14 amWhat an excellent giveaway! I would love to get a copy of this book. I’ve been vegetarian for over 5 years now and am always after new ideas and recipes. I have so many favourites so to name a few: spinach, orzo and lemon soup; lentil and walnut lasagne; cauliflower and chickpea curry; curried parsnip and wild rice soup; aubergine charlotte; broccoli pesto pasta.
Blue Kitchen Bakes
26th June 2012 at 7:19 amI’m not vegetarian but I do like cooking vegetarian food a few times a week. I think my favourite would be spicy roast veg lasagne
Julie Rayner
26th June 2012 at 7:21 amI like the sound of chocolate courgette cake. We always have too many courgettes from the garden and I hate chucking food away. Another recipe idea is very welcome
Juliet
26th June 2012 at 7:46 amOh, for a dish of soft, buttery polenta with carrot and courgette ribbons, sliced red capsicum, steamed unil tender, and seasoned with a squeeze of fresh lemon and a sprinkle of chilli and a drizzle of olive oil. It’s my favourite vegetarian comfort meal!
missusjen
26th June 2012 at 7:48 amI adore Mushroom Stroganoff, with plenty of mushrooms, Quorn or pale Soya chunks, red onion, vegetable stock, creme fraiche, paprika and a dash of Brandy or Vodka. It goes really well with rice or crushed potatoes, or even pasta. The whole family love it, so it’s a win all round… 🙂
Lauren Roffey
26th June 2012 at 8:03 amHomemade pizza with roasted butternut squash and gorgonzola.
Gary
26th June 2012 at 8:04 amMy fav veg recipe is one from River cottage veg everyday, Roasted beetroot soup with sour cream. yum
Gillian Holmes
26th June 2012 at 8:30 amSweet potato, spinach & lentil dahl
laura@howtocookgoodfood
26th June 2012 at 9:52 amI love the sound of this book so have entered a few times, thanks!
Dom at Belleau Kitchen
26th June 2012 at 10:28 amI love a simple risotto or a roast without the meat!… lovely book giveaway, thank you!
Caroline
26th June 2012 at 11:23 amI made some vegan chocolate brownies recently and they were absolutely amazing!
Ellen B Cookery
26th June 2012 at 12:05 pmMy favourite vegetarian dish would be a mixture of roasted vegetables (any kind, just chopped fine) over a bed of couscous. I love mixing these all together. By the way, congratulations on winning the book. Being one of the top 10 is quite an accomplishment!
Katherine
26th June 2012 at 1:02 pmWild mushroom risotto with cheese!
sherieann
26th June 2012 at 1:55 pmI love quorn mince, so my all time fav is spaghetti bolognese
Anonymous
26th June 2012 at 2:15 pmvegetarian lasagne
gkuroda(at)gmail.com
Anonymous
26th June 2012 at 4:04 pmtomato soup!
maxineflossy
26th June 2012 at 7:44 pmat the moment I’m addicted to mexican bean wraps, with soured cream and guacamole!
Janice
26th June 2012 at 8:42 pmI have a lovely veggie cassoulet recipe which is totally delicious. Don’t think I could give up meat though, I like it too much.
hungryhinny
26th June 2012 at 9:24 pmWell as everything I eat is veggie I have quite a lot of favourites! Depends a lot on the time of year, what’s in season etc but green thai curry with courgettes, green beans and peas is a favourite, as is asparagus, lemon and creme fraiche risotto, veggie enchiladas, cous cous with sweet potato, red onion, haloumi and sweet chilli sauce… literally too many to decide! Always looking for more inspiration though so a copy of the book would be great 😉
Janine
26th June 2012 at 9:59 pmI’m a pescatarian but not a massive fish fan so I’m quite partial to most vegetarian dishes… My favourite is probably a pizza covered with goat cheese, caramelised onions, an egg, mozzarella and dots of marscarpone/philadelphia cheese all over it.
Kika
26th June 2012 at 11:24 pmIt’s so hard to pick one vegetarian dish! I suppose right now I’m leaving towards a sandwich with a garden pesto (lots of greens and herbs rather than your traditional pesto) with tomato, avocado, and goat cheese. Yum!
amy beth marantino
27th June 2012 at 1:35 amcole slaw
Emma
27th June 2012 at 9:47 amRoasted veg lasagne
cityhippyfarmgirl
27th June 2012 at 9:14 amDon’t enter me choc, but please oh please make the mexican chocolate pudding! I’m intrigued, what makes it mexican type flavours?
Amy
27th June 2012 at 5:38 pmMy favourite vegetarian dish is Chilli con Quorn, home made of course
Jacqueline
27th June 2012 at 6:44 pmThat is a hard one Choclette. Well that is 5 mins gone. It’s hard to choose one dish. Still thinking…… I could give you ten quite easily. OK, a moroccan vegetable bake with chickpeas and a spicy sauce. served with a fluffy baked potato and some salad.
A Little Bit of Heaven on a Plate
27th June 2012 at 9:17 pmThis is very timely having just returned from Turkey where we have eaten everything fresh and devoured with such gusto the best quality local produce ever…and eaten meat only once all week.
It has made me think about reducing my meat consumption but I do struggle for inspiration. This book would help with that.
For a turkish food memory it has to be watermelon and goats these sale with balsamic…yummy, tasty, simple and refreshing.
Baking Addict
27th June 2012 at 10:42 pmCongratulations on being a finalist! This book sounds great and although I’m not vegetarian I tend to eat vegetarian at home mainly because I don’t like cooking meat. It’s hard to pick a favourite so can I give you two … or maybe three! 🙂 Veggie pasta, veggie stir fry or veggie curry.
Joan
28th June 2012 at 1:04 pmI love veggie pizza.
Mary Chez
28th June 2012 at 7:32 pmmushrooms cooked in garlic and butter
Katie
29th June 2012 at 3:29 pmI am still in the early days of being veggie – just hit the two month mark! So still haven’t got a great selection of recipes going but my favourite at the minute are veg lasagne and dahl. I seem to have a lot of curry since turning veggie!
simply.food
29th June 2012 at 6:51 pmStuffed Baby aubergines curried an a bed of jeera rice and cucumber raita.
Green Dragonette
29th June 2012 at 7:48 pmPlease don’t enter me as I have the book already and it is fantastic! Have done many, many of the cookery courses at Demuths-really good fun and highly recommended!
Caroline
29th June 2012 at 10:15 pmI think my favourite would probably be vegetarian lasagne, made with a ratatouille base, plenty of lasagne pasta layers and a gloriously cheesy sauce on top – ideally made with a red cheese for aesthetic reasons!
bloomers
30th June 2012 at 10:36 pmI love vegetarian lasagne, it’s definitely my fave!
Jessica
2nd July 2012 at 9:39 amThis weekend I made a quiche with par-boiled broad beans, courgette, and mint. It’s my fave veggie dish because it’s so versatile, and can make the best use of what’s in season.
John Grindle
2nd July 2012 at 1:41 pmbutter bean and tomato casserole
Hotrod mum
2nd July 2012 at 9:54 pmvegetable lasagne
happyfox
3rd July 2012 at 4:36 pmOven roasted veg in a creamy cheese sauce
gail
3rd July 2012 at 5:13 pmveggie lasagne
gkuroda(at)gmail.com
Amber
3rd July 2012 at 9:36 pmI love roasted beets, carrots, brussels sprouts, and parsnips.
Anna F
5th July 2012 at 6:25 pma wonderful chick pea stew from post punk kitchen!
Samantha Remington
5th July 2012 at 9:42 pmAnything involving pasta, fresh tomatoes, and basil. Mmmm.
Susana Higuera
6th July 2012 at 3:59 amBrushetta with tomato, mushrooms and basil
rusvaplaukė
8th July 2012 at 6:56 amMy fave is definitely falafel..
Rubia
9th July 2012 at 2:03 pmMy fave dish is mushroom risotto.
Tilly
9th July 2012 at 9:46 pmMy favourite is Mexican Bean wraps with lots of cumin (Yum!) and served with tons of crispy leaves, grated cheese and sour cream 🙂
Lauren - Hippie Dog Company
10th July 2012 at 5:31 pmI love eggplant parmesan
Michelle - Lost in Food
17th February 2020 at 1:46 pmI love a muffin for breakfast when I need a quick fix. And so many shops that sell them are all loaded in sugar! These sound delicious and perfect for the freezer so I can have them fresh when I need them. Thanks for linking up to #CookBlogShare. Michelle x
Choclette
18th February 2020 at 6:09 pmFreezers are wonderful things. I always have good intentions of doing just what you say, but when I try and do it, I can never find any room.