Author: thebrekkieblog

Runner and avid breakfast eater

Ginger, coconut and peanut muffins

These are good! I’ve continued to experiment with vegan baking and this time I tried the ‘just leave out the binding agent’ approach, and it worked.  These rose really well without the use of flax egg or other binding agent, just shows the old school methods aren’t always the best!!  The hint of ginger and the crunch of peanut makes a lovely combination.  My favourite way to eat them is to cut one in half and spread it with a little bit of non dairy spread and marmalade.  They are also great with coconut yoghurt and even smeared with a bit of peanut butter, and the flavours go well with some pear slices too.   These freeze well – wrap them up individually in foil and freeze.

Ginger, coconut & peanut muffins

  • 250g plain flour
  • 3 teaspoons baking powder
  • pinch of salt
  • 80g coconut sugar (or any other sugar)
  • A big chunk (about 2″) of fresh ginger finely grated
  • 40g coconut flakes
  • 60g peanuts (non roasted)
  • 40g raw cacao nibs (or other dark chocolate)
  • 2 teaspoons ground ginger
  • 240ml almond, oat or coconut milk (or other milk of choice)
  • 90ml rapeseed oil

Method

  • Stir the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar together in a large bowl.
  • Heat a small frying pan and toast the peanuts and coconut flakes for a couple of minutes (constantly tossing to avoid burning). Then put the flakes and peanuts into a food processor and whizz for a few seconds to break them down into smaller bits.  Add this to the flour mix along with the cacao nibs and ground ginger.
  • Mix together the oil and milk and then add this to the flour mixture and stir quickly.
  • Spoon the mixture into muffin tins (lined with muffin cases) and bake for 20 minutes, 180c/350f/Gas 4.
  • Leave to cool before tucking in.

 

Carrot & Coconut Muffins

The snow last weekend gave me a great excuse to stay in the kitchen and bake.  I haven’t baked muffins for a while and I wanted to trial some vegan ones. I admit I wasn’t sure if they would have the same rise and texture and I did get through a few ‘testers’ to check on baking times.  But these worked a treat and I have them stocked in my freezer for a quick brekkie.

Delicious with some coconut yoghurt and maple syrup drizzled over the top.  It has inspired me to try lots more – so watch this space.  You can’t beat a muffin for breakfast.

The Christmas muffin cases added to the snowy feel!

Carrot & Coconut Muffins

  • 125g Spelt or wholemeal flour
  • 125g plain white flour
  • 90g sugar (I used golden caster sugar)
  • 3 teaspoons baking powder
  • 80g finely grated carrot
  • 50g coconut flakes
  • 80g raisins
  • 250ml Almond milk
  • 90ml Rapeseed oil
  • 1 flax egg – 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed mixed with 3 tablespoons of water and left for 10mins.

Method

Mix all the dry ingredients together in a bowl, including the carrot, coconut and raisins.  Mix the wet ingredients together (milk, oil and flax egg).  Add the wet to the dry and mix.

Spoon into muffin cases and bake at 180c/350f/Gas 4 – for 25 minutes. Cover with foil and cook for a further 5-10 minutes.

 

P&J brekkie tortilla

My latest supply of one of my favourite peanut butters (Manilife) arrived yesterday and so peanut butter had to be part of my brekkie today (although I had already eaten a fair few spoonfuls from the jar within seconds of it arriving.)  With a packet of flatbreads languishing in the bread bin, this simple P&J tortilla was envisaged, made and eaten within 5 minutes.  If you love peanut butter and jam, you’ll love this.  I used raspberries and raspberry jam, but you could use strawberries with strawberry jam, blueberries etc., anything would be lovely.

Possibly not the healthiest of breakfasts due to the high sugar content of the jam, but it was worth it and in my defence I had walked the dog.  You could of course use a low sugar jam or make your own chia seed jam, but for now, the original stuff did the job beautifully.

P&J brekkie Tortilla

  • 1 flour tortilla (large)
  • 1 tablespoon of your favourite peanut butter
  • 2 teaspoons Raspberry Jam
  • Handful of fresh raspberries
  • Yoghurt (I used coconut)

Heat a frying pan (no oil required) – and when it’s hot, add the tortilla.  After a minute, take the tortilla out of the pan and put it on a plate cold side down.  Spread your peanut butter over the hot side, and then spread the jam on top and top with some raspberries.  Fold the tortilla in half over the filling.  Put this back in the pan (heat on) and dry fry for a minute on both sides – the tortilla will start to brown.

Cut in half and serve with some more fruit and yoghurt.

 

 

Pro high Tofu

I’ve been hunting out high protein breakfasts recently as I feel my protein intake needed a bit of a boost.  Over the past couple of years I’ve become more of a convert to using protein powders as a quick boost after long runs.  I use silken tofu a lot for sweet dishes and breakfasts and this is a quick and easy fusion between a protein shake and a smoothie bowl.  The high protein of tofu, the added chia seeds and almond butter, and the extra hit from the protein powder, provides a big punching plant based protein start to the day.

You can eat this with fruit, alongside a muffin or my favourite is with some crunchy granola on top to add some texture.

This breakfast fuelled me today for a long dog walk and a hilly run session.

Pro High Tofu (2 servings)

  • 1 packet of silken tofu (300g)
  • 1 tablespoon almond butter
  • 1 tablespoon maple syrup
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
  • 1 tablespoon hemp protein powder (or other plant based protein powder)
  • 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
  • 1 tablespoon chia seeds

Topping

Some raw cacao, banana and granola of choice – or anything that goes!

Method

In a blender, blend the tofu, almond butter, maple syrup, vanilla essence and protein powder then stir in the seeds.  This keeps in the fridge for a few days.

 

Barley and orange porridge

This was inspired by an Yotam Ottolenghi barley and orange pudding. I thought it had breakfast written all over it, so I played around and made it more breakfast than pudding.  The barley does take a while to cook, so it’s worth making it the day before and then just warming it up in a pan with an additional glug of milk to soften it up again.

This has a much more ‘bitey’ texture than normal oat porridge, in fact it probably isn’t really a porridge at all, but the cooking and serving is similar so I think I can get away with it.

Barley & Orange porridge (makes two portions)

  • 125g pearl barley
  • 700ml coconut milk (or other milk of choice)
  • 1 tablespoon brown sugar
  • 1 vanilla pod
  • One orange
  • Plus toppings of choice

Method

In a saucepan put the barley, sugar, vanilla pod (scrap out the seeds and add these and then add the remaining pod as well), milk and the grated zest of the orange.  Bring to a boil and then simmer for about 50-60 minutes.  Keep checking in case you need to add a bit more milk. The barley should keep some of its bite.

Then either eat straight away and add your toppings, or cool and put in the fridge overnight.  Remember to take out the vanilla pods before eating.

Toppings

Melt a bit of coconut oil (or other oil) into a small pan and add some orange segments and a bit of brown sugar.  Heat for a couple of minutes to soften and caramelise the orange.

Other toppings include:- cacao nibs, chocolate coconut yoghurt (truly lovely with this), sesame seeds work well too.

Nutty Tofu Bowl

This was inspired by a peanut butter mousse that I had recently at a vegan restaurant which was made using coconut cream.  It was wonderful and decadent but too rich for breakfast. So instead of coconut cream I’ve used silken tofu to lower the calorie damage and up the protein.  I’ve also added in fruit and extra nuts to give it more breakfast appeal.  This is really delicious and I bet even a non tofu eating person will be fooled into thinking it’s cream based.  The taste is distinctively nut butter.

Whilst this makes 2-3 portions – I could easily have eaten it all in one go – could make a great pre and post run treat.

Nutty Tofu Bowl

Nutty tofu bowl

  • 300g packet of silken tofu
  • 2 tablespoons peanut butter
  • 2 tablespoons almond butter
  • 2 tablespoons maple syrup
  • 8-10 dates (5 if medjool)

Whizz all the above together.

You can also whizz in some frozen banana and/or frozen mango to add even more creaminess.

Decorate with more nuts, some sesame seeds and fruit.

 

 

Cinnamon & nutmeg Barley bowl

I rarely get around to using Barley, it just seems to take so long to cook compared with other grains.  But in an effort to experiment more with introducing other grains into breakfast  I pre cooked a batch to eat during the week. This makes it much quicker to use for brekkie – so here is my first barley inspired brekkie bowl.  A great substitute for oats if you fancy something a little different.

Cinnamon & nutmeg Barley Bowl (serves one)

cinnamon barley

  • 100g cooked barley
  • 100ml almond milk
  • 1 teaspoon coconut palm sugar (or brown sugar)
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • Nutmeg – a good grating or 1/2 teaspoon ground
  • 1 tablespoon coconut yoghurt or coconut cream.
  • 1 banana

Put the barley, milk, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg into a pan and bring to the boil.  Turn it down and add the tablespoon of yoghurt or cream.  Simmer for 3-4 minutes – keep checking it doesn’t run out of liquid and burn.

Just before serving slice a banana and mix it through.  Sprinkle a bit more nutmeg on top.

Blueberry Choc Chioaty

I like using both chia seeds and oats in my overnight soakings, a mix of protein and carbs.  I find the consistency can become a little more solid, much like the old Irish tradition of porridge slabs kept in drawers!  It’s like eating a soft flapjack and I love this consistency especially with some maple syrup and yoghurt spooned on top before eating.  This is another healthy way to have chocolate for breakfast.

Blueberry Choc Chioaty

blueberry chioaty

  • 100g Blueberries
  • 2 tablespoons chia seeds
  • 2 tablespoons oats
  • juice of one orange
  • 1 teaspoon raw cacao powder (if you want a stronger cacao hit then add a bit more)
  • 1 tablespoon cacao nibs

Mix together and put in the fridge overnight.  Top with yoghurt and maple syrup or some chocolate sprinkles!

Coco beet overnight oats

As the weather turns autumnal this is the perfect earthy overnight oats breakfast.  Beetroot is in season and I am currently harvesting a big bunch each week on the allotment.  I’ve tried a few different breakfast dishes with beetroot and I love it.  This has become a favourite because it’s so quick and looks such a lovely shade of red!

I find it’s best if you process the beetroot in a food processor – peel and chop and then process until it looks like couscous (a few seconds).  You can also finely grate it for this dish if you don’t have a food processor.

Coco beet overnight oats (serves one)

Beet coco oats

  • 50g raw beetroot – either processed in a food processor or finely grated
  • 1 tablespoon desiccated coconut
  • 40g oats
  • 1/2 teaspoon cardamom
  • 20g sultanas
  • 1 tablespoon hemp seeds
  • 50g flaked coconut
  • 150ml coconut milk

Layer up the beetroot, coconut, oats, cardamom, sultanas and seeds.  Then add the coconut milk and leave overnight in the fridge.

You can play around with your seeds and dried fruit – personally I love the taste of sultanas with this dish, but dried cranberries, raisins or goji berries would work well.  The hemp seeds give a nice subtle crunch, or you can use pumpkin or sunflower seeds.  Pistachio nuts also go very well with beetroot.  Just layer up as you fancy.  The key ingredients are the beetroot and coconut – the mix of earthiness and sweetness is perfect.

 

 

Turmeric Zing

After a few days of over indulgence this is a perfect low calorie glass of guilt free brekkie. Full of zingy energy combining turmeric, ginger and apple.  You can make this the night before and leave it overnight in the fridge or just whisk it up quickly in the morning. Simple but full of flavour.

Turmeric Zing

  • 100ml coconut or almond milk
  • 1 apple
  • 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
  • nice chunk of fresh ginger (peeled)

Grate half the apple and put this in a small bowl or glass.  Put the coconut milk, rest of the apple, the ginger and turmeric into a blender and blend well. Pour this over the grated apple. Easy!

You can also add a tablespoon of chia seeds to make this a bit more substantial – although it’s still a light dish.  If you add chia seeds then leave overnight or for at least 1/2 an hour after making to enable the chia seeds to soak up some of the juice.

turmeric and chia zing