Blueberry and banana muffins

These little beauties are packed with nutrients that promote brain health. They are light and fluffy with just enough sweetness, so they don’t cause a big sugar spike. You may be surprised to see that the recipe uses a whole courgette. This sneaky ingredient is a clever way of getting some greens in. You can blitz the sunflower seeds in a blender if you have a fussy eater.

Makes

18 muffins

Ingredients

3 free-range eggs
150g coconut sugar or light muscovado sugar
1 courgette, grated
1 banana, mashed
175g spelt or wholemeal flour
160g ground almonds
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
¼ tsp fine sea salt
150g blueberries (fresh or frozen)
50g sunflower seeds

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/gas mark 4 and line muffin tins with 18 muffin paper cases.

2. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and coconut sugar together for 3 minutes using an electric whisk, or until they are nice and creamy.

3. Add the grated courgette and mashed banana and whisk again briefly.

4. Add the flour, ground almonds, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt, and mix together with a spatula until well combined.

5. Finally, fold in the blueberries and sunflower seeds.

6. Drop a small ice-cream scoopful of muffin mixture into each muffin case then bake in the oven for 25 minutes, or until they have risen and the tops are golden brown.

Egg-free
Use 3 tbsp ground flaxseeds mixed with 7½ tbsp water.

Gluten-free
Use rice flour or gluten-free plain flour.

Nut-free
Replace the ground almonds with 160g sunflower seeds ground to a flour in a food processor. No need to add the extra sunflower seeds at the end, in this case.

Recipes taken from The Good Stuff – Delicious recipes and tips for happier and healthier children by Lucinda Miller, Short Books, £20 hardback. Photography by Andrew Burton

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