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These healthy muffins make a perfect snack to brighten up your day.
Photo by Pixabay/fancycrave1
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“Sticky Fingers, Green Thumb” by Hayley McKee shows readers that baking and gardening can go hand in hand in the kitchen.
Photo courtesy of Hardie Grant Publishing
12 servings
SERVINGS
Ingredients
- 4 teaspoons caraway seeds
- 110 grams (4 ounces) unsalted butter
- 220 grams (8 ounces/1 cup) granulated sugar
- 4 teaspoons lemon zest
- 1 egg
- 60 milliliters (2 fluid ounces/ 1/4 cup) freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 250 grams (9 ounces/1 cup) ricotta
- 300 grams (10 1/4 ounces/2 cups) plain (all-purpose) flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 70 grams (2 1/2 ounces/1 cup) finely shredded kale, tough stems removed
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 175 degrees Celsius (345 degrees Fahrenheit). Line a 12-hole standard muffin tin with paper cases.
- Toast the caraway seeds in a frying pan over a medium heat, tossing them gently from time to time, for 5–8 minutes until browned. Remove from the pan and set aside.
- Cream the butter, sugar, lemon zest and caraway seeds together in a bowl, or in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, lemon juice and ricotta until smooth, then fold in the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt and kale.
- Divide the batter evenly among the paper cases and bake for 20 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Remove from the oven and leave to cool slightly in the tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and leave to cool completely.
No More Nibbles
Being a member of the cabbage family, kale is particularly prone to attacks from the common white cabbage moth. Netting your seedlings is one good way of preventing the moths from eating all your kale before you do – use bamboo poles or PVC piping to make a frame for your net, then hang it high enough to allow air flow and growth of your plants. Once your kale plants are established, keep your eye out for green caterpillars hiding on the underside of leaves.More from: Sticky Fingers, Green Thumb
• Baking Desserts with Vegetables • Green Tea Pea Cake Recipe • Green and White Cookie Recipe
Recipe excerpted with permission from Sticky Fingers, Green Thumb by Hayley McKee, published by Hardie Grant Books March 2018, RRP $29.99.
Sticky Fingers, Green Thumb (Hardie Grant, 2018) by Hayley McKee shows readers that vegetables and desserts can indeed be a winning combination. In almost 60 recipes, McKee mixes veggies into her unique desserts to give you a healthy and delicious treat, while showing you how to harness the most flavor from every vegetable. The following excerpt is her recipe for kale, lemon, and caraway muffins.
Sophisticated muffins made for grown ups, these guys are a great treat for casual hangs or as a little something special to brighten up your week.
