Strawberry muffins, new oven and an allergy

 Last week should have been better as things settle down in my life but the challenges continue to rise up in my path. I was so tired last week, I barely made a dint on the clean up needed after the kitchen renovation. Sylvia is not sleeping well, our heater was not working and we discovered that Sylvia has an allergy to peanuts. Well at least I didn't have to sit in a cold carpark for a few hours waving cars in (that was the week before when we had a work event).  And I made some lovely muffins.

I bought some strawberries at the market which on closer inspection weren't great.  I remembered Cakelaw's recipe for Strawberry Yoghurt Muffins and miraculously had the leftover dairy in need of rescue, albeit not the no-fat strawberry yoghurt as specified by the recipe.  I also had the remains of a bag of choc chips that I used instead of dried cranberries.  Throw in a bit of LSA that has been in the fridge a while, and these made lovely moist grainy muffins that weren't too sweet.

My one uncertainty was as to how much to bake them.  I am still easing into the new oven.  My old oven always took far longer than the specified temperature and cooked unevenly.  I think this one cooks fairly evenly and seems to cook as the recipe intends.  But I am not yet familiar enough to make blithe assumptions.  These muffins looked ok after 20 minutes but I decided to bake the second lot just that bit longer.

I still am in transition when it comes to reading recipes.  I realise this means that I will now have a mix of recipes on this blog when it comes to the oven.  Some made in a dodgy old oven and others in a brand spanking new oven.  I have gone into my Kitchen Notes page on the weekend and updated the notes on my oven.  Other than that, I can only apologise to anyone who must adjust to my changed oven timing.

Most of the muffins are now in the freezer but below was the sight that greeted Sylvia when she got up on Saturday morning. Not bad, eh! We had muffins for breakfast. I had been hoping I might have been able to make her some baked goods with peanut butter but that is not going to happen any time soon.

Last week Sylvia did a peanut challenge at the Royal Children's Hospital.  She started allergy tests after her allergic reaction early last year.  We never identified what she reacted to back then but it set off a series of queries.  She did a cow's milk challenge last year and was fine.

The peanut butter challenge did not run so smoothly.  Fortunately her reaction wasn't life threatening but it was not pleasant to watch her in distress after a quarter of a teaspoon of peanut butter.  I have delayed introducing her to peanuts and was glad she tried them at the hospital, now that I know the reaction wasn't good.

There haven't been many recipes on the blog with peanuts in them since early last year and there wont be many more.  I love peanut butter and still have some around for when I fancy a peanut butter sandwich, usually when Sylvia is not around, but we need to educate her not to have peanuts.  Yet another new challenge to face.  I am planning to try some other nut butters on toast with Sylvia as she doesn't seem to be allergic to any other nuts so far (touchwood for luck).

Meanwhile, it amused me to photograph a muffin with some of the detritus that I found in our old fruit bowl when cleaning up after our kitchen renovation.  Don't ask!  All I can tell you is that this is not my current mobile phone in the picture.  My phone has been lost for a week or two but I dislike using it so much that I am not too bothered.  They are handy every now and again so hopefully I might find it.  I meant to take a pretty picture of the muffins with strawberries but got waylaid.  A bit like this post.

A new week ahead and I am looking forward to some strawberry muffins in my work lunches.  Highly recommend you try them too.  Like Cakelaw I am not keen on strawberries in baking but these ones work wonderfully in the muffins to keep them moist and fruity.

Previously on Green Gourmet Giraffe:
This time last year: WHB Easter nut roast and reflections
This time two years ago: Carrot Miso Soup
This time three years ago: Pumpkin Apple and Sage Risotto

Strawberry yoghurt muffins
adapted from Cakelaw
makes 18 muffins

• 250g fresh strawberries, hulled and chopped
• 1 1/2 cups wholemeal plain flour
• 1/2 cup LSA (or more wholemeal plain flour)
• 1/2 cup white plain flour
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 5 tsp baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 cup dark choc chips
  
• 1 lightly beaten egg
• 1/4 cup canola or other neutral oil
• 1 1/4 cups vanilla yoghurt
• 1/2 cup creme fraiche (I topped mine up a little with milk because I didn't quite have enough)

Preheat your oven to 190 degrees Celsius (or 170 C fan forced). Line a 12 hole muffin tin with paper muffin cases.

Combine the flours, cinnamon, brown sugar and choc chips together in a bowl.  Stir in the egg, oil, yoghurt and strawberries. Spoon the batter into the muffin cases.

Bake the muffins for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown and a skewer inserted in the middle comes out cleanly. Allow the muffins to rest in the pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool.  (NB they will be very fragile when hot so letting them rest will make them easier to handle.)

On the stereo:
Scott Walker: The Collection