These breakfast muffins by Melissa Hemsley are the meal prep you’ll actually want to eat

Written by Chloe Gray

Chloe Gray is the senior writer for stylist.co.uk’s fitness brand Strong Women. When she’s not writing or lifting weights, she’s most likely found practicing handstands, sipping a gin and tonic or eating peanut butter straight out of the jar (not all at the same time).

This recipe, from Feel Good by Melissa Hemsley (Ebury Press, £22), is the perfect way to reset your gut health.

‘Meal prep’ isn’t a phrase many of us associate with the dying days of summer. It’s hard enough working out what to make for dinner, let alone planning it days in advance. But that last-minute scramble for food en route to the office probably isn’t serving your energy levels, digestion or finances.

If you want to hit the ground running in September, the back-to-school reset month, it’s time to get your nutrition in order now. That’s why we’re easing our way back onto the meal prep train with these breakfast muffins by no-nonsense cook Melissa Hemsley. 

They’re the perfect batch cook recipe, packed with fibrous plants including prebiotic flaxseed and banana to wake up your gut in the best way. The delicious mix of slow-release carbohydrates, omega-rich fats and protein-packed seeds will also see you through to lunch without an energy crash. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, after all.

Melissa Hemsley’s breakfast muffin recipe 

Serves: 12 

Total time: 45 minutes 

Ingredients: 

30g unsalted butter, plus extra (optional) for greasing

3 medium very ripe bananas (about 500g), peeled

4 eggs

1 large carrot, scrubbed and roughly grated (about 80g)

3 tbsp maple syrup

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp sea salt

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tbsp lemon or orange juice and a little grated zest

200g ground almonds

25g ground flaxseed

3 tbsp raisins or chopped dried fruit

3 tbsp seeds or chopped nuts

12 fresh berries (such as raspberries – optional)

Method: 

Preheat the oven to fan 180°C and either grease a 12-hole muffin tray with butter or line with paper cases.

Melt the butter in a small saucepan and, as soon as it has melted, take off the heat and allow to cool slightly so it doesn’t scramble the eggs.

In a medium bowl, mash the bananas to a pulp with a fork. Push them to one side, then crack the eggs into the empty part of the bowl and whisk well with the fork.

Add the carrot, maple syrup, vanilla, salt, cinnamon, bicarbonate of soda and lemon/orange juice and zest. Mix together with the fork and then add the melted butter.

Add the ground almonds, ground flaxseed, raisins or dried fruit and most of the seeds or nuts, and mix well. 

Divide the batter between the greased or lined moulds of the muffin tray and scatter over the rest of the seeds or nuts. If using fresh berries, pop them on top now and press in slightly.

Bake in the oven for 30 minutes. If your muffins are getting very browned after 20 minutes, then lower the heat to fan 170°C. If using fresh berries, these muffins may need three to five minutes extra.

Remove the muffins from the oven and leave to cool in the tray for 10–15 minutes before lifting out of the tray and transferring to a wire rack to cool down completely before enjoying.

Images by Lizzie Mayson from Feel Good by Melissa Hemsley. 

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