These are the muffins that turned our winter breakfasts around. Custardy bread baked in individual moulds, frozen in batches, and ready whenever you need them — two minutes in the microwave and you’ve got the base for a proper breakfast bowl with kefir, fruit, and a scatter of toasted seeds. Or grab one straight from the microwave or air fryer on a busy morning. The method is deliberately simple: jam or marmalade in the bottom of the moulds, a bit of chia, bread and fruit, custard goes over the top, and everything soaks right there. No extra bowls, no fuss. Use raisin bread, hot cross buns, or any day-old bread or left over cake you need to use up (no matter what bread you use it is best to dry it in the oven a bit first so it can pretend to be stale)  —  and it transforms into something worth getting out of bed for.

FRENCH TOAST MUFFINS

Ingredients

Makes about 15 large muffins (180ml silicone moulds) or more in a standard muffin tray

Bread

• 1 small loaf raisin bread (approximately 400g), 6 sliced hot cross buns, or other day-old bread, or leftover cake — if you have time dry in the oven, and if you are using sliced bread remove crusts and cube

Custard

• 8 eggs (about 400g)
• 450ml milk
• 250ml kefir
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 80g brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
• ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
• ½ teaspoon salt

Topping

• a mix of seeds pumpkin or sunflower or anything
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• ½ tablespoon ground cinnamon

Extras

• Fresh or frozen blueberries
• sultanas
• chopped dates
• Pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
• Sunflower seeds
• Sesame seeds
• chia seeds

Method

1. If you have the time cube the bread and place the slices on a baking tray and dry at 120°C on the bake setting in an oven for 15 minutes. You want them firm and leathery, not toasted or coloured. Cake as is works fine.
2. Spread silicone muffin moulds or lined muffin pans out on a large oven tray and lightly spray with oil.
3. Put a spoon of marmalade or jam in the base of each mould and a 1/4 tsp of chia on top of the jammy mix.
4. Remove the bread, allow to cool, then cut into cubes.
5. Turn the oven up to 170°C on combi steam (hot air with steaming) or for a standard oven, use 180°C conventional.
6. In a large jug, whisk the eggs, milk, kefir, vanilla, brown sugar, spices and salt together using a stick mixer — it only takes half a minute.
7. Place the dried bread/cake cubes directly into the muffin moulds, (see Rhubarb and Apple variations in Notes) filling each about two-thirds full. Drop a few frozen blueberries or sultanas into each mould among the bread.
8. Pour the custard evenly over the bread in each mould, filling over the level of the bread. Let sit for at least 30 minutes to soak, push them down into the custard a few times while soaking — the custard will absorb into the bread. Top up any that look dry. They rise a lot while baking but will fall as they cool – best not to fill right to the top as they will flow over.
9. While the bread is soaking  mix the sugar and cinnamon together.
10. Sprinkle the seeds over each muffin, then sprinkle the sugar/cinnamon mix on top.
11. Bake for 15 minutes on combi steam, then switch to conventional heat at 205°C for a further 5 minutes to caramelise and crisp the tops. In a standard oven, bake at 180°C for about 20 minutes until golden and the centres are cooked through.
12. Allow to cool slightly before turning out.
13. To freeze put the muffins on a piece of baking paper and freeze flat. When frozen they stack sideways nicely into a container.

Serving

Breakfast bowl (our favourite): Reheat from frozen in the microwave for 2 minutes. Place in a bowl and top with rhubarb compote or berry compote or lemon curd, a big splash of kefir and/or yoghurt, fresh fruit, and a generous scatter of breakfast sprinkles (toasted seed mix). This is our go-to winter breakfast when cold cereal is uninviting.

Grab and go: Reheat from frozen in the air fryer — the extra crispness on the outside makes them easy to eat straight from the hand. Drizzle with honey or maple syrup if you like.

Dressed up: Serve warm with cream, jam, berries, or maple syrup as a brunch dish.

Notes

Bread: A Baker’s Delight raisin loaf is small, thick and dense. If using a standard supermarket loaf, expect more cubes that will absorb the custard faster. Hot cross buns work beautifully — the mixed fruit and spices already in the bun add depth without any extra effort. Any day-old bread you need to use up will work.

Kefir: The tang of the kefir cuts through the sweetness of the brown sugar and spices. Start with a 50/50 kefir to milk ratio. If you prefer it milder, try 30/70 kefir to milk next time. Ordinary milk is fine if you don’t have kefir and if there is some leftover cream in the house it can substitute for some of the liquid.

Soaking in the moulds: This is much easier than soaking in a separate bowl — you can see exactly how much custard each muffin needs and top up any that look dry. No extra bowls to wash.

Rhubarb variation: Place a teaspoon of rhubarb compote in the bottom of each mould before adding the bread. When you turn the muffins out, the rhubarb runs down over the top — the tartness cuts beautifully through the sweetness.

Apple variation: Place a single thin apple slice in the bottom of each mould before filling. Slice thinly so it cooks through in the baking time.

Freezing: Cool completely, then freeze individually on a tray then, when frozen stack them into a sealed container. These freeze brilliantly and are the reason we batch-bake them.

Plant points: Depending on your bread and toppings, a single breakfast bowl can deliver 10+ plant points — bread grains, raisins or mixed fruit, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cloves, pepitas, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, blueberries, and when you add fruit and sprinkles you really multiply the diversity. A solid start to the weekly 30.

Cross-links: See also French Toast, Rhubarb Compote, and Sprinkling Granola.