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

Makes 15 muffins in 180ml silicone moulds, or more in a standard muffin tray.

Ingredients

Base

• Marmalade or jam — 1 heaped teaspoon per mould
• Chia seeds — 1 teaspoon per mould

Bread

• 400g raisin bread (1 small loaf), or 6 hot cross buns, finger buns, any day-old bread or leftover cake, cut into cubes
• Sultanas or other fruit — about 1 teaspoon per mould if your bread has no fruit in it (chopped dates, frozen blueberries, dried or fresh apple or apricot all work)

Custard

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

Topping

• Sprinkling granola — about 1 tablespoon per muffin

Method

1. Spread 15 silicone muffin moulds (180ml) or lined muffin pans out on a large oven tray and lightly spray with oil.
2. Put 1 heaped teaspoon of marmalade or jam in the base of each mould, then 1 teaspoon of chia seeds on top of the jam.
3. Cut the 400g of bread, buns or cake into cubes and divide between the moulds, filling each about two-thirds full. If the bread has no fruit in it, drop about 1 teaspoon of sultanas or other fruit into each mould among the bread. Leave the cubes to sit in the moulds for half an hour or so to dry out a little — it doesn’t make much difference, so don’t fuss if you are short of time.
4. In a large jug, whisk the 8 eggs, 450ml milk, 250ml kefir, 80g raw sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon nutmeg, ¼ teaspoon allspice, ⅛ teaspoon cloves and ½ teaspoon salt together with a stick mixer — it only takes half a minute.
5. Pour the custard evenly over the bread in each mould, to just over the level of the bread. Leave to soak for at least 30 minutes, pushing the bread down into the custard a few times and topping up any that look dry. Don’t fill right to the top — they rise a lot while baking and will flow over, then fall as they cool.
6. While they soak, heat the oven to 160°C on combi steam (hot air with steam), or 180°C conventional for a standard oven.
7. When ready to bake sprinkle about 1 tablespoon of the sprinkling granola over each muffin. (or just use nuts and seeds and bit of brown sugar)
8. Bake for 20 minutes at 160°C on combi steam, then switch to dry heat at 230°C for a further 10 minutes to brown and crisp the tops. In a standard oven, bake at 180°C for 25–30 minutes until golden and the centres are set.
9. Allow to cool slightly before turning out.
10. To freeze, cool completely, and place on a flat surface in the freezer in their moulds.  Once frozen they can be popped out of the moulds and stacked sideways into a sealed container.

Serving

Breakfast bowl (our favourite): Reheat from frozen in the microwave for 2-3 minutes. Place in a bowl and top with rhubarb compote, berry compote or citrus curd, a big splash of kefir and/or yoghurt, fresh fruit, and a generous scatter of sprinkling granola. 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: Use what you have. A Baker’s Delight raisin loaf is small, thick and dense; a standard supermarket loaf gives more cubes that absorb the custard faster. Hot cross buns work beautifully — the fruit and spice already in the bun add depth without any extra effort. Finger buns, plain day-old bread and leftover cake are all fine.

Fruit: Any fruit is fine if your bread is plain — sultanas, chopped dates, frozen blueberries, dried or fresh apple or apricot. About a teaspoon per mould, no need to measure.

Kefir: The tang of the kefir cuts through the sweetness of the sugar and spices. The recipe uses 250ml kefir to 450ml milk. Ordinary milk is fine if you don’t have kefir, and leftover cream can stand in 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.

Oven: The combi steam method is the one we use. The standard oven time is a guide — check the centres are set before taking them out.

Rhubarb variation: Use a teaspoon of rhubarb compote in the bottom of each mould instead of the jam. 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.

Plant points: Depending on your bread and toppings, a single breakfast bowl can deliver 10+ plant points — bread grains, dried fruit, chia, the spices, and the seeds, nuts, oats and coconut in the granola. Add fruit and compote and you really multiply the diversity. A solid start to the weekly 30.

See also French Toast, Rhubarb Compote and Sprinkling Granola.