Meera Sodha's rollercoaster apple muffins are designed to pack a nutritional punch for growing children, with each muffin containing 9g of protein. The recipe, featured in The Guardian, aims to provide "rollercoaster foods" that help kids reach height requirements for rides like Mandrill Mayhem at Chessington World of Adventures.
Nutrition-Packed Ingredients
The muffins combine wholemeal self-raising flour, mixed seeds, rolled oats, raisins, and grated apple with cottage cheese and eggs for protein. The recipe uses demerara sugar and extra-virgin olive oil, keeping sugar content mindful while maintaining taste. According to Sodha, the muffins are "tasty without tasting worthy" and are a simple mix-in-a-bowl job.
Preparation and Baking
Preparation takes 10 minutes, with 45 minutes baking time, yielding 12 muffins. The dry ingredients—200g wholemeal self-raising flour, 100g mixed seeds, 65g rolled oats, 50g raisins, ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda, 1½ tsp mixed spice, and ¼ tsp fine sea salt—are mixed in a large bowl. In a jug, 3 large eggs, 150g full-fat cottage cheese, 125g demerara sugar, and 100ml extra-virgin olive oil are whisked, then combined with the dry mix and 200g skin-on grated apple (about 2 large Braeburns). A topping of remaining oats, oil, sugar, and seeds is sprinkled before baking at 195C (175C fan)/385F/gas 5½ for 25-30 minutes.
Storage and Serving
Once cooled, muffins keep in a cake tin for a couple of days or can be frozen for the summer holidays. Sodha notes that muffin liners are taller than cupcake liners, but cupcake liners work if a knife is run around the cooled muffins to remove them.
