How to make muffins from store-cupboard staples – recipes | Waste not
Cooking without recipes is a great way to reduce waste in the kitchen because it helps to use up all sorts of odds and ends,Soups, stews and smoothies are the obvious starting points, but, as your confidence grows, you can learn to adapt trickier recipes such as baked goods to use up a wider range of the ingredients in your pantry,My five-year-old daughter loves to invent recipes with me, and we recently made muffins using some brown bananas (her idea) and a variety of flours, dried fruit, nuts and seeds,Although the Lily Cafe blogger Kat suggests adding two to four tablespoons of sugar per egg to your muffin, I like to extend the ratio and add one part sweetener, instead, making the ratio “double two, triple one”, which is still easy to remember,Although some baking recipes need to be very precise, muffins are a little more forgiving, so get inventive, experiment and see what works for you.
And don’t forget to note down your recipe in case it’s a corker and you want to make it again (and if it’s not quite right, you can adjust the amounts next time).You can use any glutinous flour, though if you opt for plain flour rather than self-raising, you will need a raising agent, too (a teaspoon of baking powder per 100g of flour should be about right).I used whole spelt flour with baking powder.The liquid element covers water, milk (or plant-based alternative) and mashed or pureed soft fruit or vegetables, such as brown banana flesh, or apple or pumpkin puree.The fat, too, should be liquid – for example, melted butter, vegetable oil or olive oil.
As for the eggs, an egg weighs about 50-60g, so if you are making a small batch of muffins with, say, 200g flour and liquid, you will need two eggs (ie, just over 100g), but if you have a little more or less, don’t worry: as I said earlier, this recipe is forgiving,And as for the sweetener, just about any will work, from sugar or honey to maple syrup,Any extras (added to taste) are up to you: chopped or whole dried fruit and nuts or seeds, chocolate chips and other tasty nibbles are always welcome in a muffin,Even slices of raw fruit such as apple, pear and peach, studded throughout the muffin or just on top, are also lovely,I recommend adding one to two parts of such extras, but make sure they’re in pieces rather than blended into the muffin mixture.
I line muffin tray holes with little squares of unbleached baking paper, which I simply push into the greased holes,This removes the need for using muffin cases and gives the muffins a nice rustic aesthetic where the corners of paper poke up,2 parts flour – 200g self-raising flour (or 200g plain flour plus 2 tsp baking powder)2 parts liquid – 200g mashed brown bananas, apple puree, milk, yoghurt1 part liquid fat – 100g melted butter, coconut oil or olive oil1 part eggs – 100g eggs, or about 2 medium ones1 part sweetener – 100g sugar, honey or maple syrupChopped nuts, seeds, chocolate etc, to tasteFirst gather and weigh out all the different ingredients using the magical muffin ratio 2:2:1:1:1 – that is, parts flour, two parts liquid, one part fat, one part egg, one part sweetener,Put the flour, raising agent if using (and 100g sugar if you’re not using a liquid sweetener) in a large bowl,In a second bowl, mix all the wet ingredients, including the fat, eggs and any liquid sweetener.
Mix the wet ingredients into the dry until just combined, then fold in any chopped nuts, seeds, dried fruit and/or chocolate to taste (we added a handful of seeds, chocolate chips and cranberries, and saved some to decorate the tops.Divide the mixture between the greased and lined holes of a muffin tin and bake in a 210C (190C fan)410F/gas 6½ oven for about 20 minutes, or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.Remove and leave to cool in the tray for five minutes before devouring, or take out of the tin, cool on a wire rack and store in a suitable airtight container.
Don’t drag my autistic children into the Tories’ war on ‘woke’ | Letters
I felt compelled to respond to the latest Conservative punch-down: Kemi Badenoch’s endorsement of dangerously false claims on the administrative load of neurodivergence (What kind of person would drag autistic children into the culture wars? The Kemi Badenoch kind, 14 October). As a parent of two autistic boys without a formal diagnosis – the eldest already two years into the waiting list, with the youngster’s referral somewhere in the ether – I’m absolutely livid. To see your loved ones struggle without the support they need to keep them safe and well is hard enough, before they’re dragged into Tory point-scoring against “woke” society.On a professional level, I’m even more affronted by these accusations of workplace meddling and entitlement by people with neurodevelopmental differences. I’m part of a research group exploring autistic health inequalities, and I can assure readers that there is ample evidence that every factor that equates to poor health outcomes is more prevalent in the autistic community
Ethical alarms should be ringing over weight-loss jabs for the jobless | Letters
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Mental health professionals must work together | Letters
Psychiatrists have a fundamental role to play in resolving the ongoing mental health crisis and it is disappointing to see that outdated and erroneous tropes about our work are still widely believed, even by other mental health professionals (Letters, 10 October).People who have a mental illness usually require a range of therapeutic approaches, including psychotherapy, social and occupational interventions, family work and medication. As doctors, psychiatrists take a holistic approach that recognises the complex interaction between psychological, social, cultural, environmental and biological factors, and the impact that these can have on mental health. This ensures that patients receive personalised care and treatment options as well as support from a variety of other services.Psychiatry has been at the forefront of developing the biopsychosocial model, which is routinely used in modern psychiatric practice to help people recover from all types of mental illness
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We would like to find out more about people who live in homes with unsafe cladding and what their experience has been like over the years. Have remedial works been completed, are in progress, or are yet to start? Have you experienced any problems moving home, selling or remortgaging? What effect, if any, has it had on your mental and physical health?You can tell us how living in a residential building with unsafe cladding has affected you, by filling in the form below.Please be specific and include as much detail as possible. Please be specific and include as much detail as possible. Please be specific and include as much detail as possible
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We’d like to find out more about maternal deaths in the UK as recent figures show a rise in numbers. We’re interested in hearing from anyone whose friend, relative or loved one died in pregnancy, during childbirth, or within a year of pregnancy between 2020 and 2024.What was their experience like and what kind of treatment or care did they receive? We’re also interested in hearing from healthcare professionals and their experiences.You can share your experience by filling in the form below. Please leave blank if you wish to be anonymousPlease be specific and include as much detail as possible
Archbishop of Canterbury to meet MP behind assisted dying bill
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