Heart-warming oat tea bread and carrot-apricot muffins

Fill your home with the sweet aroma of fresh baked goods this season. These melt-in-your-mouth muffin and bread recipes make healthy and comforting snacks, or breakfast meals your family will love.

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cooking time: 1 hour 30 minutes plus cooling time

Serves: 12

Recipe facts

• Flaxseeds add a nutty flavour to this tea bread. Buy them in health-food stores but grind them yourself as, once ground, they rapidly lose much of their nutrient value due to exposure to air and light.
• Flaxseeds are an important dietary source of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), an essential fatty acid our bodies cannot manufacture. ALA has a wide range of health benefits including the reduction of hormone-like substances that lead to blood clotting.

• 350 g (1 1/2 c) old-fashioned rolled oats
• 125 g (1/2 c) flaxseeds
• 125 g (1/2 c) wheat bran
• 250 g (1 c) flour
• 125 g (1/2 c) firmly packed light brown sugar
• 10 ml (2 tsp) baking powder
• 3 ml (3/4 tsp) salt
• 350 ml (1 1/2 c) plain low-fat yogurt
• 150 ml (2/3 c) honey
• 1 large egg
• 175 g (6 oz) dark raisins

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Lightly grease a 22 x 12-centimetre (nine x five-inch) metal loaf pan.
2. Place the oats, flaxseeds and wheat bran on a baking sheet, and bake for seven to nine minutes (or until the oats are golden brown). Transfer to a food processor and process until finely ground.
3. Transfer the oat mixture to a large bowl. Stir in the flour, brown sugar, baking powder and salt.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk together the yogurt, honey and egg. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and fold in the yogurt mixture until just combined. Fold in the raisins.
5. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top. Bake for one hour and 20 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the centre of the loaf comes out clean. Cool for five minutes in the pan, then invert the loaf onto a wire rack to cool completely.

• 276 calories
• 4.3 g fat
• 0.9 g saturated
• 7 g protein
• 57 g carbohydrates
• 4.9 g fibre
• 20 mg cholesterol
• 261 mg sodium

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 35 minutes

Makes: 12

Recipe facts

• These muffins make a substantial breakfast and are bursting with good-for-you ingredients: carrots (vitamin A for healthy eyes) and sunflower seeds (rich in vitamin E for possible protection from Cancer and heart disease).
• Dried apricots are even better than fresh ones. They contain ample iron to prevent anemia and the soluble fibre, pectin, that lowers LDL cholesterol levels (linked to dangerous hardening of the arteries).

• 150 g (2/3 c) sunflower seeds
• 45 ml (3 tbsp) sesame seeds
• 425 g (1 3/4 c) flour
• 10 ml (2 tsp) baking powder
• 2 ml (1/2 tsp) baking soda
• 2 ml (1/2 tsp) salt
• 3 ml (3/4 tsp) cinnamon
• 3 ml (3/4 tsp) ground cardamom
• 3 ml (3/4 tsp) ground ginger
• 250 ml (1 c) buttermilk
• 125 g (1/2 c) firmly packed light brown sugar
• 50 ml (1/4 c) light olive oil
• 1 large egg
• 350 g (1 1/2 c) shredded carrots
• 125 g (1/2 c) dried apricots, finely chopped

1. Preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F). Line twelve six-centimetre (2 1/2-inch) muffin pan cups with paper liners. In a baking pan, toast the sunflower seeds and sesame seeds for four minutes (or until the sesame seeds are light golden). Cool. Leave the oven on.
2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cardamom and ginger.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, brown sugar, oil and egg until well combined. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients, pour in the egg mixture and stir until just combined.
4. Fold in the sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, carrots and apricots.
5. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups, and bake for 30 minutes (or until a toothpick inserted in the centre of a muffin comes out clean). Remove the muffins from the pan and cool on a wire rack.

•  234 calories
• 10 g fat
• 1.4 g saturated fat
• 6 g protein
• 31 g carbohydrates
• 1.6 g fibre
• 19 mg cholesterol
• 267 mg sodium

Heart-warming on cooler autumn and winter days, enjoy your baked goods warm out of the oven!