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, here I’ve combined mashed Pumpkin with Cheese to make a deliciously healthy Halloween 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:

Pre-heat Oven to 170c. Fill 2 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 Halloween!

Pumpkins are an antioxidant rich food, packed with BetaCarotene and Vitamin A - perfect for our eyesight, they’re also an excellent source of fibre and thought to have anti-cancer effects.

Lesley has recently completed her studies in Nutrition & Health at Edge Hill University, she and husband Roberto own Roberto’s Italian on Ocean Plaza, Southport. For more of Lesley’s recipes go to www.robertositalian and Facebook.com/robertossouthport.