Pumpkin and cheese muffins

PUMPKINS, pumpkins everywhere! So I thought I would sneak them into one of my favourite foods to bake.

Muffins don't have to be sweet, because here I've combined mashed pumpkin with cheese to make a deliciously healthy Hallowe'en snack.

Ingredients:

1 small pumpkin

200g self raising flour 2tsp baking powder 2tbsp butter

2tbsp crème fraiche 75ml milk, cows or soya 2 eggs

100g cheese – Stilton, Cheddar, etc

Method:

Heat oven to 170°C.

Fill two six-hole muffin trays with paper muffin cases and place on a large baking tray.

Sift the flour and baking powder into a large bowl and set aside.

Remove the pumpkin flesh from the pumpkin and mash or grate, set aside.

Crack the eggs into a large measuring jug and whisk, add the milk, 2tbsp melted butter and crème fraiche, mix together.

Gradually fold the wet ingredients into the flour to form a batter.

Gently and loosely fold in the pumpkin and crumble or grate in 90g of the cheese.

Divide the mixture between the paper muffin cases.

Bake for 25 minutes or until golden and puffed up – try not to open the oven door during this time!

Once cooked, grate over the last 10g of cheese and leave to stand in the muffin trays for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool.

Now they're ready to eat, enjoy them hot or cold.

Happy Hallowe'en!

Pumpkins are an anti-oxidant rich food, packed with betacarotene and vitamin A - perfect for our eyesight, they're also an excellent source of fibre and are thought to have anti-cancer effects.

Lesley is studying a nutrition & health degree at Edge Hill University; she and her husband, Roberto, own Roberto’s Italian on Ocean Plaza, Southport.

For more of Lesley’s recipes, find her on Twitter: @LYates Nutrition and Roberto’s: Facebook.com/robertossouthport