Halloween week, can you believe it? This autumn has flown in for me, I can’t believe I have less than 3 months left of this pregnancy!
Well, it’s also half-term officially. Emma will be going to playgroup until Wednesday, when she will have a Halloween party with her friends there, so she has been asking from today for some “scary” buns for the boys and girls.
I am not very inventive when it comes to baking so I had a wee look around the Internet and found this Hearty Spiced Carrot Muffin recipe which sounded quite straight forward and mentioned a “toddler who devoured her muffin all Tasmanian-devil style”. I thought this would be spot on if we were to take them to the party on Wednesday and if we adapted them a little bit to look more…spooky.
So here is a list of my ingredients. I forgot to include the olive oil (of which I added half a cup) in the picture:
- 2 cups of self-raising flour(approximately 250 grams)
- 2 teaspoons of baking powder (I learned my lesson this summer and always add baking soda for fluffiness, even when my flour is self-raising)
- one cup of porridge oats
- one medium carrot, grated
- half a cup of brown sugar (I don’t like my buns to be too sweet, especially when designed with children in mind!)
- a cup of milk (the initial recipe stated applesauce but since I had none I double the amount of milk)
- one egg
- two teaspoons of vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon each of ground cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and ginger
- spooky Halloween Hariboes
- edible shimmer spray (optional)
The recipe recommended mixing dry ingredients first, then wet ingredients separately and adding them to the latter. I am a simple sort of baker and added everything together as they were listed, I’m afraid. No harm occurred.
My eager little baker stepped in to help me with the stirring: “That’s why I’m here, mummy!”
We placed the mix in Halloween muffin cases (bought especially from the occasion from Home Bargains, at £0.59 per 48 cases) and placed them in the oven for 20 minutes.
Emma insisted on adding a Halloween sweetie on each while they were still warm and asked me to spray them with the edible shimmer spray to make them more presentable and eery-looking.
Then she proceeded in sampling them (although she was a bit worried about the grated carrot she had seen going into the mix and had to be lied to: “Yes, love, I got it all out!”…) and declared them the best muffins mummy has ever made.
For me, this is the ultimate proof of success in a recipe and I will definitely make these little babies again, since it’s a sure way to get Emma to eat disguised carrot, if nothing else :-)!
Mama's Haven 
awww she did so well to make these and the rise on them is fab. i love your use of spices mmmm and the sweet is an aded bonus x
Thank you, she was really keen to help,Jenny.
Yes, as I said, learned my lesson and always add baking soda now, gives them that much-needed rise!
I was surprised she didn’t find them too spicy, it means I found my balance with them in this one :-).
Good job you,two for making “the best muffins mummy has ever made”.I am sure your kitchen smelled amazing.xxx
Oh yes,Iva, even daddy couldn’t resist and praised me on the recipe, he said I finally cracked it down :-). I personally love them as they are spicy and not to sweet, the kids are in for a treat!xx
Oh wow these looks amazing and take me right back to my childhood! Thanks for linking up to #tastytuesdays
I forgot last week but now I have subscribed to your posts by email and will have a reminder to link in. Thank you, I really liked your spanakopitakia as well and I aim to make them once we move.xx
These look delicious 🙂 Lovely to see your daughter help make them x
She was really keen and took them this morning to her playgroup :-). Thank you for stopping by.xx
what a great idea! i love the colour of the buns. Thank you for linking up with the #FridayFoodie every week.
Thank you, Otilia. We had fun making and spraying them 🙂
These look fab! My little girl is 4 and loves baking with me, I should give these a wee shot when we’re both off on Friday xx
Yes, Vonnie, they are easy to make with little ones and very tasty!xx
They sound lovely. Love the idea of oats in there too. Anything with cinnamon and spices in gets my vote 🙂
Yes, they were yum and so flavoursome due to the spices. I am a big fan of cinnamon too, can’t wait for Christmas season to kick in 🙂
These look great and perfect to make with my toddler. Pinned! Thanks so much for linking up to #recipeoftheweek. There’s a fresh linky live now – would love you to pop over and join in with another fab recipe 🙂
Thank you, Emily! We have moved house but I will try to cook up something nice for tonight and link it in :-).xx