I love breakfast foods, which is why I’ve been making a lot of loaves and muffins recently. Since it was pancake day this week and I bought a bottle of Maple Syrup especially, I thought I’d carry on the theme and make some Maple Syrup and Pecan Muffins. I have the Hummingbird Bakery book but their recipe called for more buttermilk than I have in the fridge so it was back to the drawing board.

I came across a recipe from Nigella Lawson, which uses wheat germ. I had some oat germ in the cupboard which needed using so I decided to substitute it. There is no sugar or butter in the batter – instead I used milk, vegetable oil and of course, maple syrup. The result is a light and fluffy muffin with a delicious crunchy sugary and nutty topping. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that they’re healthy but i’m sure they’re not as bad as your regular muffin.

I have an American cup measure so I used this – if you don’t have one, you can convert here.

Ingredients (Makes 12)

1 cup pecans, roughly chopped
2 cups plain flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup oat germ
1 pinch of salt
1/2 cup milk
1 egg
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon light muscovado sugar

Method

Pre-heat the oven to 190degrees

1. Fill a muffin tray with paper liners and set aside 1/4 of the chopped pecans

2. Mix together the remaining pecans with flour, salt, oat germ and baking powder

3. Whisk together the milk, egg, maple syrup, vegetable oil and vanilla in a separate bowl

3. Pour the liquids into the dry mixture and gently fold to mix. Do not over mix because the mixture can get too hard, which will make the muffin tough. It doesn’t matter if there are a few lumps in the mixture

4. Spoon into the muffin cases

5. Sprinkle the light muscovado and remaining pecan nuts on the top of each muffin case

5. Bake for 20 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean

6. Remove muffins to a cooling rack

Enjoy!