bluffin' with my muffin

Ever since I heard that line in Poker Face, I've been dying to write a blog post with that title! Ha ha!

Having focused so much on my running for the past seven weeks, my yoga has gone from a two or three times a week practice, with a regular Wednesday night class thrown in, to maybe once a week, and even then I am solely in downward dog territory.  That gotta change, man.

So I went along to my mate Suburban Yogini's Spring into Yoga workshop yesterday, and it was a breath of fresh air into my little routine. Saturday is normally my rest day anyway, and it was lovely to be thinking about something other than my running for a change.  We did a strong and powerful practice in the morning, and the afternoon was all about meditation, pranayama (breathing) and finally, my favourite, yoga nidra.  If you have never done yoga nidra before, the best way I can describe it is it's as if you are asleep, but you can still hear everything that is happening around you.  You fall into the deepest, most obscure train of thought that is like a dream, and yet you are still semi-conscious of what is going on.  It's bizarre but so relaxing!

One of the lovely things about Rachel's workshops is that you're encouraged to get to know the other participants - such a nice change from quietly skulking in to a yoga class and then just leaving when it's over!  We were asked to bring along a vegetarian dish for lunch to share - it was so cool, like having a picnic on our yoga mats! :)

My contribution to the yogini lunch were these pumpkin and rosemary muffins:

 
I had seen a recipe for them on a midday cooking show one Saturday, lying comatose on the couch after a long run (!).  My kitchen is so very small in our current flat, so much so that baking is not really a pleasure any more.  It's hard to enjoy it when you can never find anything, you run out of bench space within five seconds, and end up covered in flour!  But on watching this cooking show, I was suddenly seized with motivation, not unlike what I used to think when watching the Olympics.  Swimming, 800m hurdles, long jump....hey, I could do that!!  :P

So even though my muffin making did not go without incident, I managed to deliver them to the ladies at the yoga retreat and got an overall thumbs up!  I gave one to Tom before I left and he, being the sweet tooth that he is, remarked that they were a little bland.  Panicked, I chucked a tub of pesto and a bottle of chilli oil in the bag too!

They are very delicious, perfect to accompany a salad or a bowl of soup, or a snack for any time of day.  Apparently they freeze well too but, predictably, I did not get that far ;)

Pumpkin and rosemary muffins
Adapted from BBC Food, Lorraine Pascale


Cooking spray, for greasing the tin

50ml coconut oil (or vegetable oil)
180g self-raising flour
130g wholemeal flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
pinch salt
3 fresh rosemary sprigs, finely chopped
2 free-range eggs, lightly beaten
3 tablespoons plain yoghurt (Total 0% Greek Yoghurt is great)
275ml milk (I used rice and oat)
2 tbsp honey
240g cooked pumpkin, cut into ½cm/¼in cubes
handful pumpkin seeds
handful pine nuts
basil pesto, to serve
chilli oil, to serve
hummus, to serve


Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6. Oil a 12-hole muffin tin and line with 12 squares of baking paper. Push the squares down into each hole so that the paper sticks up.  You might need someone's assistance with this - as I did!

Sift the flours, baking powder, and bicarbonate of soda into a large bowl. Stir in the salt and rosemary. (Reserve any wholegrain left in the sieve.)

Meanwhile in another bowl or a large jug, mix the eggs, yoghurt, milk, honey and coconut oil until well combined.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry, add approximately 3/4 of the pumpkin cubes, and fold the ingredients together, but be careful not to over-work the mixture.

Put one or two cubes of pumpkin in the centre of each muffin, and sprinkle the reserved wholegrain, the pumpkin seeds, the pine nuts over.

Bake in the centre of the oven for 20–25 minutes, or until the muffins are well risen and a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.

Leave them to cool, and then serve warm or cold.  I thought they were delicious with a bit of basil pesto drizzled over, or dipped into some hummus.

What I might do differently next time: I would probably roast the pumpkin cubes to give more flavour and possibly up the rosemary to 4 or 5 sprigs rather than 3.  This was my first time baking with coconut oil too, and it was most successful.  I did have to restrain myself from slathering it all over my body, it smelled divine :)  If I were in a cheesey mood, you could add some cubes of feta cheese to the mix as well.

Having previously been a purely sweet muffin girl - blueberry and banana being my favourite - I have been rather won over by the savoury brigade, I must say.

What's your favourite muffin?