Ashley Campion welcomes in the New Year with three fruity recipes to kick-start your family’s day…
Breakfast can be tricky (and messy!) but it doesn’t have to be boring. Cook up a batch of fruit purée, using dates as a natural sweetener, and incorporate it into two other tasty and nutritious dishes, guaranteed to brighten up the gloomiest morning.
Teeny Weeny 6-8 months | Breakfast Fruit Purée
Ingredients
• 1 pear
• 1 plum
• 2 de-stoned dates
Method
Peel the pear, and peel and de-stone the plum, roughly chop and cook in a pan with 2cm of boiling water.
As the fruit starts to soften, roughly chop the dates and add to the pan. Allow the fruit to simmer for about 15 minutes, adding boiling water as necessary to stop the purée sticking to the bottom of the pan.
Remove from heat and blitz in a liquidiser until smooth.
TOP TIP…
The fibre in dates is very good for the young digestive system, plus dates are rich in vitamins and minerals, to get your child off to the vey best start.
Itsy Bitsy 8-12 months | Breakfast Fruit Pancakes
Ingredients
• 2 eggs
• 280g self-raising flour
• 310ml whole milk
• ½ cup of the breakfast
fruit purée
• Unsalted butter
Method
Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites. Whisk the whites until they form floppy peaks. Sift the flour into a second bowl. Make a well in the centre and add the egg yolks and the fruit purée. Mix until it is smooth, the fold in the egg whites.
Place a pan over a low heat and add a very small smear of butter. Cook each dollop of the mixture slowly, turning after 2 or 3 minutes. Vary the size of the pancakes to suit.
Serve the pancakes with syrup and a dipping pot of your homemade purée.
TOP TIP…
Put the pancake mixture in a squeezy bottle and not only is it easy to be precise, but you can also create your own fun pancake shapes.
Tiny Bopper 12-24 months | Breakfast Fruit Muffins
Ingredients
• 235g plain flour
• 2tsp baking powder
• 1tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 large eggs
• 50g soft unsalted butter
• 100ml skimmed milk
• ½ cup of the breakfast
fruit purée
• 4 dates, roughly chopped
Method
Pre-heat your oven to 180°C. Place the muffin cases into a muffin tin. Mix all the dry ingredients together and add the eggs, butter and milk. Then add the fruit purée and chopped dates and mix well.
Spoon the mixture into each muffin case leaving a 2cm gap at the top to allow for the muffin rising. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes – the muffins should be golden when cooked.
6 Leave to cool before serving.
TOP TIP…
If your child is over one years old you can add a range of different dips and textures for them to try – jam, marmalade, honey, marmite, lemon curd or even some whipped cream.
See here for more little recipes: Ashley Campion | Baby Food for Early Years
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