Good morning friends! I am running behind in posting this week and I apologize! With autumn comes cold weather and with it come colds and runny noses, and sometimes fever! Nonetheless, I am getting back on track and I’ll post again later today, as was originally planned.

Now let’s move on to today’s post, shall we? Those who follow me on Facebook and twitter already know this, but for those of you who don’t, here’s the big news I announced on Monday: I am going to be collaborating, on a permanent basis, with a lovely project, a website called Petit-On, created by the adorable Raquel Bermejo (who some of you may already know from the blog Peque a la moda).

Every month, I will contribute a child friendly recipe for the “Cooking” section of the blog, and by child friendly I mean, not only recipes that children may like, but also recipes that can be done with them, with the aim of encouraging children to cook. Each recipe will share a common ingredient will all other recipes published that month by the other contributors, who are bloggers I read, follow and love, such as Elena, from Delicious Stories, Lili, from La cocina de color lila , Laura from Coure coulants and Cristina from La mujer del fotógrafo es química. And, since Petit-On is published in Spanish, I will share them in English here as well, so that you can also make them.

The common ingredient for November was chestnuts, and I contributed these easy and delicious spiced apple, maple and chestnuts muffins. They are very simple and can even be made the night before, so they are ideal for those lazy Sunday morning when we crave something sweet. Just leave them in the fridge in an airtight container, and add the apple, chopped chestnuts and syrup right before baking!

Here’s the recipe

Spiced Apple, maple and chestnut muffins (serves 12. Inspired by the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook’s Apple Muffins)

Ingredients: 2 cups bread flour, 4 teaspoons baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon cardamom, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 cup sugar,1 XL egg, 1/3 cup oil or 60 grs melted butter or margarine (whichever you prefer), 1 cup milk (it may be soy  almond, rice or oats milk), 1 granny smith apple, diced, 1/3 cup chopped chestnuts (you may roast them first to release their wonderful aroma), maple syrup (optional)

Preparation: 1)Pre-heat the oven at 200C 2) Sift flour, cinnamon, cardamom, sugar and salt  and place them in a big bowl 3) Beat the egg.  Add milk and oil and mix well. If you use melted butter/margarine instead of oil, remember that it should not be hot when adding it to the egg or it will cook it! 4) Make a hole in the middle of the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients in it. Mix only until combined (do not beat!) 5)Add apple and chestnuts and mix until just combined 5) Pour the batter in the muffins cases, filling them 2/3 only. 6) Pour 1 teaspoon maple syrup in each muffin case and mix it with the rest of the batter  with a toothpick or chopstick, making eights. 7) Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Amigos hispanoparlantes: Este post contiene la traducción de la receta que presenté en Petit-On. Para leerla en español, vayan al posr original, AQUI. Nos vemos más tarde con otra receta simple y riquísima!

See you later today with another easy, yummy recipe!