RECIPE: Large moist and light blueberry banana loaf

Everyone loves an easy cake, no more than me.  I'm not one for too many steps and fussing around.  I'd be a terrible patissier because I'd want to take shortcuts.  This one is just ingredients in two bowls, combine and bake.  Gotta love that.  The inclusion of sour cream makes it not only moist but really light, and I think I'll be using sour cream a bit more going forward with my cakes because even though I'm not a real cake person (I looove cheesecake) this is one I will admit, I had more than a few slices.....

The other good thing about this one is it makes 15 decent slices so if you were to make this for school lunches - you will get the 'return on investment' in your time... I'm going to make this again next time I cater morning tea at work or church.

Ingredients:

3 cups plain flour

2 1/2 tsp bicarb soda

3/4 cup frozen or fresh bluberries

1 tsp cinnamon powder

3 bananas, mashed

3/4 cup sour cream

2 eggs

250g butter, melted and cooled

Topping (optional)

Extra bluberries

1 banana, sliced

Method:

Preheat oven to 170 degrees c

In a mixing bowl,  combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon and frozen blueberries and mix to combine.

Mix your sour cream bananas, eggs, and butter in another bowl

Combine together either with a spoon, or in a mixer.  It's a stiff dough so might be better with a mixer if you have one.  Don't worry if your bluberries pop :)

Place into a square or round tin or 2 greased loaf pans.
Place some blueberries and sliced banana on top.

Bake for 1 hour, check if it's cooked by using the skewer method.
Cool in the tin for about 10 minutes before turning out on a cooling rack for another 30 minutes minimum before serving.

Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days or freeze in portions or whole for later.

Yum!

LUNCHBOX LEGEND: No-bake chewy blueberry coconut muesli bars

It's been a crazy week, we are in Sydney and if you've not seen in the news, this superstorm has certainly been disruptive.  We're on our third day with limited power - no washing machine, dishwasher and no oven.  We have enough power to run our fridge the past two days and some TVs as well so it could be worse.  Luckily we also have gas - so hot showers and gas cooktops are a blessing.

I  have been left with a limited lunchbox stash though so had to get creative.  No-bake-type creative.  I could have made LCMs but because it's so wet and damp thought that might not be a good idea.

So I went looking for a chewy muesli bar and I tweaked a recipe and got these and I have to say, they are the best muesli bars I've ever made.  Not only are they delicious but the recipe is super easy and it makes 18 bars.  I kinda want to make more today, and I might if I have time.

Now the recipe calls for light corn syrup.  If you can't access this - just use 1/3 cup glucose syrup and make up the rest of what would have been 1/2 cup with water, no drama.  You can get glucose syrup readily from the supermarket if they don't have light corn syrup.

You don't need to use blueberries either -  use choc-chips, sultanas, dried apricots, currants or goji berries or even funfetti/sprinkles if you're feeling a little crazy.

All up they take about an hour but  half of that you're waiting for them to set, so very quick!  Give them a go - you won't regret it!

Ingredients:
125 gr butter
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups rolled oats
1 1/2 cups shredded coconut
1 3/4 cups rice bubbles
1/4 cup dried blueberries

Method:
Line a baking tray (mine here is 43cm x 28cm (or 17 x 11 inches)) with aluminium foil.

Place butter, corn syrup, sugars and vanilla extract in a saucepan and place on stove over medium-high heat.

While your wet mixture is heating up - prepare your dry ingredients by combining them in a bowl.  These are the blueberries I used.

Give your wet ingredients a stir, and when it starts to bubble up like this, it's ready to pour into your dry ingredients.

Get ready with a spoon.

Pour in your wet ingredients gradually and stir as you go.

It should be moist all over.  Quickly move this into your prepared tray.

Spread out evenly with a piece of baking paper as the mixture will be hot and sticky.

Compact the mixture buy rolling a small rolling pin or glass over the top to ensure it meshes together well and the surface is even.

Leave it to set for about 30 minutes then turn upside down onto a chopping board. Peel off the foil and then cut into bars or squares, depending what you prefer.  This made 18 bars for me.

They have a lovely texture and are sweet without being sickly.

Cut up baking paper and roll into individualwrapped pieces.  They fit perfectly into a tupperware mini-rectangle size 2 if you have one.

Mega-lunch-box-bake off, how we made 500 school snacks in three hours!

At the beginning of the school year I hosted a baking afternoon with the Mums of our church and some friends.   In the spirit of MamaBake we met in our large church kitchen and had time to chat and bake, and I passed on some of my recipes which I'd adapted to be big batches.

All in all it cost about $20 a family, there were nine of us, which I think is as big as it should be to be honest, mainly because of oven space and time.

I purchased the ingredients, but if you were doing this with friends, you could allocate a shopping list or a recipe to each person.  For the recipes we used, I also pre-made the scroll dough and short-crust for the mini-quiches.

I laid out each recipe in stations with ingredients, utensils and of course the recipe.   This is the station for banana passionfruit muffins

 And mini quiches using my quiche pastry dough

Savoury scrolls using Pioneer Woman's scroll dough

Everyone stuck to their recipe - and it was very social and it was clear that everyone loved baking but didn't have either the patience or the confidence to make it all.  Everyone left feeling they would re-make at least one of the recipes.

It was really fun, I would recommend it with friends or people in your community!

Slabs of LCMs!

The 'business'!  Cookies, muffins, scrolls, quiches!

 The assembly line of packaging!

Click here to download the bulk recipes to use yourself or with friends!

Lunchbox legend or easy dinner: Best ever wholemeal wraps

Our family is big into wraps at the moment, but I really don't enjoy paying upwards of $4.00 for just 8 of them.   They are a good alternative to bread and our kids fill them up with cold meats, salad for lunch and we have kofta  or our homemade doner kebabs in them for dinner.

I've tried a few recipes and many turn out too thick or to get the quoted quantity you have to make them super small and they don't wrap much.  So I experimented and came up with these ones.  They are thin, but not so thin they crack or have holes in them the minute you put something slightly wet on them.  They are the winner.  We're obsessed with them now, and I'm making them again today to go with pulled pork I've got going in the slow cooker.

And the bestest thing is they don't take long at all - about 1.5 hours from beginning to end (probably less really), and most of that you're not doing anything at all - a good time to get your fillings prepared - or make them the night before school... and I worked out - at the most this cost $2.00 for the whole lot more like $1.50 depending on where you shop.


Ingredients:
1 tsp dried yeast
1.5 cups warm water
1 pinch salt
1 pinch pepper (optional)
1 tb olive oil
2/3 cup wholemeal flour
2 cups plain flour
dried herbs as desired (optional)

Method:
Dissolve the yeast into the warm water and let sit for about 5 minutes.   then add the salt, pepper, olive oil and whole meal flour and mix well with a spoon until well combined.

Then add plain flour and herbs and if you have a mixer with a dough hook, knead on low speed for about 3 minutes. If you don't, knead by hand for about 5-10 minutes.

 It should be elastic-ky dough - if not add water of plain flour until you reach the right consistency.

Place in a greased bowl (olive oil or spray) and cover with cling film.  Leave for 45 minutes or until it's doubled in size.

Doesn't take long!

Cut into 8 even pieces

Start by kneading the dough a few times, by folding over each piece a few times until you feel the dough 'toughen' a little.  Roll it out as thin as you can without breaking it.  Mine were about 20 x 20cm.

Heat up the largest frypan or surface you have. This could be a grill or your BBQ.  For me, this is my paella pan.  Place on medium heat.  Dabble a small amount of olive oil and place your dough.

After about a minute, it will start to bubble up.  Leave it there for about 2-3 minute in total and then flip over.

Turn over and leave for a further minute.

Then flip onto a tray (I used a pizza tray to give you some idea of the size of my wraps) some paper towel, I use used one piece and put it underneath for few minutes then on top for a few minutes whilst I was making the next one.

Before you know it, you have wraps to go!  If you don't want to eat them right away - pop them in a large ziplock bag and in the fridge or even in your pantry, but eat within a few days of making them.

We put BBQ chicken, hoummos, and salad, yum!  Great for a hot night.

A hit!

Bookmark this! Frills in the hills Muffin Encyclopedia - 25 muffin recipes to inspire you!

I find muffins are the staple of my lunchbox arsenal - they are quick, easy and produce big yields that can be frozen and added to lunchboxes easily.   I usually like to have two types going at one time, allowing some variety.  I don't put them in every day but on those busy days they are a godsend.  I also like to take some out in the morning to thaw for afternoon tea whilst we're bustling between activities - gymnastics, touch-football, netball, tap-dancing this year for us!

I've marked them to indicate how many you get - 'makes' and how long it takes - 'takes' and whether they meet the nut-free policy many schools have now 'lunchbox friendly'.  I've also divided them into sweet and savoury - not everyone has a sweet tooth and a lot of the savoury ones are great accompaniments to soup in winter..

So have fun, tell me your favourite and share with your friends who no doubt like us, need a short-cut every now and again - lots of recipes in one spot!

SWEET

Apple blueberry muffins
Makes: 18
Takes 45 minutes
Lunchbox friendly:  Yes

Apple cinnamon muffins
Makes: 18
Takes: 45 minutes
Lunchbox friendly:  Yes

Apple raspberry muffins
Makes : 20 cupcake size or 12 large muffins
Takes: 45 minutes
Lunchbox friendly:  Yes

Apple rhubarb and custard muffins
Makes: 24
Takes: 45 minutes
Lunchbox friendly: Yes

Banana bran muffins:
Makes:36
Takes: 50 minutes
Lunchbox friendly:  Yes

Banana maple muffins
Makes: 24
Takes: 45 minutes

Banana passionfruit muffins
Makes 22
Takes:  45 minutes

Cherry coconut muffins
Makes: 20 cupcake size or 12 large muffins
Takes: 45 minutes
Lunchbox friendly:  If you are allowed coconut yes, if not - no..

Donut muffins
Makes: 18
Takes: 45 minutes
Lunchbox friendly: Yes

Honey almond oat yoghurt muffins
Makes:  24
Takes: 60 minutes
Lunchbox friendly:  No, as has nuts...

Lemon ricotta muffins
Makes:  18
Takes: 40 minutes
Lunchbox friendly:  yes

Lemon poppyseed muffins
Makes: 24
Takes: 50 minutes
Lunchbox friendly: Yes

Lemon vanilla yoghurt muffins
Makes: 24
Takes: 50 minutes
Lunchbox friendly: Yes

Mighty Milo muffins
Makes: 12
Takes:  45 minutes
Lunchbox friendly:  Yes

Oat and cranberry muffins
Makes: 12
Takes:  45 minutes
Lunchbox friendly:  Yes

Peach, coconut and oat muffins
Makes: 24
Takes:  45 minutes
Lunchbox friendly:   If you are allowed coconut yes, if not - no..

Pear raspberry and oat muffins
Makes: 18
Takes: 45 minutes
Lunchbox friendly:  Yes

Raspberry and coconut cream muffins (dairy free)
Makes: 24
Takes: 45 minutes
Lunchbox friendly: Yes

Sugar and dairy free muffins
Makes:  20
Takes: 40 minutes
Lunchbox friendly:  Yes

Strawberry cream cheese muffins
Makes:  30
Takes:  50 minutes
Lunchbox friendly:  Yes









SAVOURY:

Cheese and rosemary muffins
Makes: 10
Takes: 30 minutes
Lunchbox friendly: yes

Cheese and salami muffins
Makes:  12-15
Takes:  40 minutes
Lunchbox friendly:  Yes

Cornbread muffins
Makes: 24
Takes:  50 minutes
Lunchbox friendly:  Yes - recommend these with soup

Spinach and cheese muffins
Makes: 12
Takes: 40 minutes
Lunchbox friendly: Yes







Zucchini, ricotta and thyme muffins
Makes:  12-15
Takes:  40 minutes
Lunchbox friendly:  Yes