freezer treats…

wow how time flies when you are locked in a small space with three boys, though you would think i have not much to do, i’ve managed to miss a couple of weeks of posting. I think what it comes down to is missing my schedule. at the end of the day though sometimes in this strange time we just have to do what works in the moment.

so the other week i talked about freezing the raspberry and peach shortbread for school lunches. so i thought this week, with all that flour you have left over from doing so much baking over lockdown i would share the recipe for the muffins i make to put in the freezer for the kids to take to school. we potentially have another week of kids at home, so we may as well use it!!

buying dairy and gluten free treats for school an get really expensive. i decided going into this year i was going to try an reduce my food bills, so i had to find ways of filling their lunch boxes with things they would eat that didn’t break the bank.

muffins are always a winner and the kids just get them out of the freezer in the morning and by lunch they have defrosted and are ready to eat. I went to the warehouse and bought a few of the biggest sistema click clacks I could find and while we were at my parents in the holidays i baked until all the containers were fill. so all i am buying for them now are crackers, and then lunch foods.

this muffin recipe is from two peas and their pod it’s a lemon and blueberry muffin recipe, but ill talk about how i alter it too.

lemon and blueberry muffins…

• 

• 2 cups Edmonds gluten free flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup Oliviani
• 1 cup sugar
• lemon zest
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• lemon juice
• 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
• 1 cup blueberries

preheat your oven to 180oC and spray or lines some muffin trays ready to go.

now the actual recipe calls for separate bowls, for wet and dry ingredients but i don’t do that. my reasoning? i can’t be bothered. gluten free flour is a lot more forgiving than gluten flour, actually i didn’t do it then either. I just can’t be bothered with extra dishes, and extra time to pt these together.

heres what i do, put all the ingredients, in order in the bowl except the blueberries. you want to be careful not to smoosh them so leave them til the end. mix everything together, use a whisk if you have a good strong one, but a wooden spoon is fine. mix until all the flour is mixed in.

add your blueberries, and gently mix them through. use frozen ones if you want, directly from the freezer.

pop your mix into your muffin pans and put them in the oven. bake for 15-20 minutes. but your nose is the best test of when they are ready. when baking is getting close you can start to smell the delicious baking smell in the house, so if that’s before your 15 minute timer pop a knife into one and check if it’s ready early. the knife should come out clean.

so alternatives in this recipe. there is no need to alter the quantities of your base ingredients, even if you want to add something like cocoa, you don’t need to alter the flour, it’s a nice wet mix anyway so it’s all good (I can hear all you bakers screaming at me out there, but seriously I don’t have time to fluff with recipes so I just do it, and surprise it works!!)

• so add 1/2c cocoa and a handful of chopped up chocolate for double chocolate
• add some drained cherries, or plums and 1/2 c cocoa for dark forest
• add some chopped capsicum, onion and df cheese for a savory one

basically any combination takes your fancy will work, they only rules are, don’t be tempted to overload on additions, drain any fruit in syrup, don’t defrost any frozen fruit, and make them something that you would eat.

when you’re done, let them cool right down then put them into a click clack container in the freezer. the kids can take them out in the morning add them to their lunch box and enjoy when they are ready.