Carrot & Tahini Savoury Muffins

I love lazy Sundays. Waking up, not to an alarm nor the urgency of getting out of bed, but to the morning light filling the room as I continue to fall in and out of sleep. A slow breakfast, almost always pancakes, is always the first consideration on one of these days, as there is no rush to get moving or be anywhere in particular. The caffettiera goes on shortly after, albeit a lazy day a caffeine hit is a necessity. What follows after is a blend of reading, baking, eating, tidying, maybe some blogging or some exercise. Whatever it may be, it’s done in a slow and lazy fashion. The day always concludes watching a movie, on the couch, preferably wrapped in a blanket with a cup of tea. And hopefully I’ve baked something to accompany said tea, but if not, a piece of dark chocolate will do. Now that’s a perfect lazy Sunday.

The latest product of a lazy Sunday are these savoury muffins, the perfect snack to bake up and freeze ready for the week ahead. They may be small but they are packed with heaps of goodness – carrots, eggs, almonds, tahini – so they’ll certainly kick those afternoon sugar cravings.

You have most likely gathered by now, if you read my blog regularly, that I love tahini (or you may just be thinking ‘seriously, tahini again Steph’). Well yes, sweet or savoury, breakfast or dinner, I’m obsessed. How, you may ask, can one thing be so versatile. See for yourself…

For breakfast, drizzle tahini over your bowl of overnight oats
For a healthy snack, use tahini as a dip for veggie sticks
For a tasty sweet treat, make these gluten free tahini cookies
To jazz up a salad, use tahini in your dressing, like this pumpkin and brown rice salad
For a delicious marinade, replace half the peanut butter with tahini in this satay chicken skewer recipe

Carrot & Tahini Savoury Muffins
Makes 12

1 cup oat flour*
1/2 cup almond meal
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cumin
Pinch of sea salt
2 tbsp sesame seeds (plus extra for on top)
2 tbsp currants
3 eggs
1/2 cup natural yoghurt (or yoghurt of choice)
1/4 cup hulled tahini
2 cups grated carrots (approx 2 medium carrots)

Preheat oven to 180C and grease a 12-muffin tray. In a bowl, combine the dry ingredients, including the sesame seeds and currants. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, yoghurt and tahini. Add the dry mixture and grated carrots, and mix well. Spoon the mixture into the muffin tray, sprinkle each muffin with sesame seeds and bake for 15-20 minutes. Store in the refrigerator or freeze them for snacks.

*To make your own oat flour, simply put 1 cup of oats in a food processor and pulse until fine like breadcrumbs.

Enjoy!