Vic Borrill (Brighton & Hove Food Partnership)
Serves: 12 muffins
Prep time: 20 mins
Cook time: 50 mins
Ingredients:
340g sweet potato
110ml water
225g cooking apples
225g plain flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp grated nutmeg
100g caster sugar
110g butter – melted then cooled
1 egg
10ml milk
85g chopped dried apricots
Veg Portions / Serving: 1
Delicious spiced muffins using the natural sugars in fruit and sweet potatoes to reduce the amount of added sugar by providing raw, unrefined alternatives.
Method:
Preheat the oven to 180 C/ 350F/ Gas mark 4.
Line muffin tins with cases.
Peel the sweet potato and cut into small dice. Put into a saucepan with the water. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer very gently for 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sweet potato is quite soft. Do not let the mixture dry out; add more water if necessary.
Meanwhile, peel and core the apples and cut into similar sized dice. Add to the softened sweet potato. Cook for another 5-10 minutes until the apple is also soft. Again do not let the mixture dry out; add more water if necessary.
Remove from the heat when soft and mash with a fork or potato masher to remove any lumps. Leave to cool a little.
Sift the flour with the bicarb and spices into a large bowl. Add the sugar and stir to combine.
Whisk the egg with the milk then add to the sweet potato mixture. Add the cooled melted butter and chopped dried apricots.
Make a well in the flour then pour in the fruit mix. Mix quickly but thoroughly until everything is well combined.
Spoon into the muffin cases. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until the muffins are risen and firm and spring back lightly when pressed.
Top tips
Using eating apples rather than cookers means the sugar content can be further reduced.
Sultanas or other dried fruit can be added to the mixture.
Try varying the types & amonts of spices used to get the taste you like best!
Engaging Kids
Kids who engage regularly with veg through veg-themed activities, such as arts and crafts, sensory experiences, growing and cooking are shown to be more likely to eat the veg they engage with. Encouraging kids to engage and play with veg is the handy first step to them developing a good relationship with veg and life-long healthy eating.
Kids in the kitchen
Prep the sweet potato and apple mixture ahead of time for younger children (and help older ones chop and prep it themselves). Then let the little ones make the muffins themselves. They could also chop the apricots roughly with scissors. Let them spoon the mixture into cases.
Activities
While getting kids to interact with veggies for real and using their senses to explore them is best, encouraging hands off activities like arts & crafts, puzzles & games or at-home science experiments can be a great start, particularly for those who are fussier eaters or struggle with anything too sensory. Use these veg-themed activities as a stepping stone to interacting with the veg themselves. We have loads of crafty downloads here, puzzles here, and quirky science with veg here.
Sensory
Once you feel your child is ready to engage a little more, you can show them how to explore the veg you have on hand with their senses, coming up with playful silly descriptions of how a veg smells, feels, looks, sounds and perhaps even tastes. Find ideas, videos and some simple sensory education session ideas to get you started here.
Serving
The moments before food is offered can be a perfect opportunity for engagement that can help make it more likely a child will eat it! Giving children a sense of ownership in the meal can make a big difference to their feelings going into it and the pride they take in it. You know your child best, but if you aren’t sure where to start, we have some fun and simple ideas for easy roles you can give them in the serving process over here.
Vic Borrill (Brighton & Hove Food Partnership)
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Vic Borrill (Brighton & Hove Food Partnership)
