walnut and courgette muffins |
Saturday morning. 8am. Telephone goes and it is Daughter No2. Looks like the baby is coming, she says, so our excitement starts to build. We prepare to zoom off to the other side ie the European side of the Bosphorus where the baby is due to be born but we wait for the next call.
True to form and to character, TT takes the other car off to the garage for a consulation. Me, I decide that now is the right moment to make these delicious-looking muffins from my friend Oya’s new cooking website. I loved the ingredients from the minute I read the recipe so it has been at the back of my mind for a few days now.
one cooked muffin |
I think you will love them. The smell while they were cooking was outta this world. I made them and took them along to the hospital where we ate them in the interim after the baby had safely arrived and before we realized we were ravenous and needed a real meal to celebrate!
Waiting for babies is a stressful and strangely hunger-inducing occupation. I recommend these for whenever you like not only for when the going gets tough: brunch perhaps?
Ingredients for Walnut and Courgette Muffins with Herbs
Makes 12
1 ripe courgette/kabak
1 small carrot/havuç
100g tulum cheese (I used eski kaşar; cheddar would be fine)
1 ½ cups flour
½ packet baking powder (in Turkey)/1 ½ tsp baking powder
5-6 spring onions/taze soğan
Flatleaf parsley and dill,chopped
3 eggs
½ cup olive oil
*10-15 ripe walnuts,chopped
Salt and black pepper
Nigella seeds/çörek otu
Method
· Preheat the oven to 170°C/325°F. Grease a 12-muffin baking pan.
· Wash the courgette and using the coarse side of the grater, grate without peeling. Put into a bowl. Grate the carrot, chop the spring onions, parsely, dill and mix with the grated courgette.
all the vegetables in a bowl |
· Grate the cheese and add to the mixture. Add the olive oil, eggs, salt and pepper and mix together.
the original recipe specified one tea glass oil: this equals half a cup |
· Finally add the flour and baking powder, and then the chopped walnuts.
· Spoon into the muffin pan and sprinkle with the nigella seeds.
· Bake in the preheated oven for about 25 minutes or until the muffins turn an attractive light brown.
off to the hospital we go |
Tips
1. I actually baked mine a further 10 mins. It is important that the oven is hot enough. Check your muffins before removing. The colour should be an inviting warm light brown. I guarantee the smell will be irresistible!
2. *I put the walnuts in a plastic bag and beat them with my rolling pin to crush. It hardly seems worth it to put them in the food processor.
like this |
Do try these: I’m sure you will love them just as much as we did!
Afiyet olsun!
Mmm, I love anything with courgettes in them. Might have to try these. Congratulations on becoming a grandparent, too. 🙂
Such brilliant news – congratulations! Plus a wonderful recipe too, you are really spoiling us, thank you! 🙂
Those sound so delicious and look wonderful! Fantastic news on the baby…Congratulations!!
Congratulations Claudia! Bbut please let us know: your first grandchild is it a babyboy or a babygirl?
Wait, so how are the baby and momma! I hope everyone is healthy!
These muffins look fabulous. Perfect for stress eating during this stressful waiting time!
Claudia,
OMG what a great blog. I really enjoyed looking at your Özbek pages.
Hope that you are all well. Keep up the good work!!
Shauna
Congrats on the new grandchild, Claudia! The muffins look lovely as always too!
Conratulations on your grandchild,dear!I love your muffins!Great idea!
oh thank you, everybody, for your warm good wishes! The baby is a girl and her name is Eva! She's adorable but we're having trouble with the feeding so as a result no sleep for anyone. Hopefully it will all settle down soon.