One question we often get asked during our sourdough bread baking class is 'Is sourdough bread good for weight loss?'.

Since we already know that swapping a home baked bread for shop bought is always a good idea, I wanted to find out more about the benefits of eating sourdough bread.

As you might know, I've always been fascinated by traditional sweets. Probably because our house is victorian I wanted to dive a little deeper into the history of victorian sweets. 

In Victorian times, everything seems possible! It was the time for great inventions, connecting the whole countries with new amazing technology (called the steam railways!) and also time for everything proper!

Is marmalade good for you?

Did you see box office smash Paddington Bear II at the cinema recently, either on your own or with your children? If you did, chances are that you were also reminded of Paddington’s predilection for – yes, marmalade, in sandwiches, no less. While Paddington may eat marmalade at every opportunity, most of us have it for breakfast, usually on toast.  So, is marmalade good for you and what exactly are its health benefits?

Ah, yes, Marmalade!  Bring it on!

This recipe is perfect when you have some sourdough starter leftover and if you don't want to throw away your old starter when you feed it. The sourdough starter doesn't have to be very active, but if it is it helps to make these blueberry muffins extra light and fluffy. I use wholemeal (or whole wheat) flour with this recipe to make the muffins a little bit healthier, but you can easily use just white flour or even bread flours with low gluten, such as spelt flour.

First of all - and just to put everyone mind at rest - there is no such thing as true sourdough bread that's 'quick' or can be made without a sourdough starter. Yes, you can make sourdough bread without a starter, for example, San Francisco Sourdough Bread. This bread is made from 'scratch' without 'starter', but it takes about seven days to make as you gradually increase the amount of fermenting dough. The flavour is amazing, and it's certainly worth making an effort to make this bread. So, whilst made without a sourdough starter, it's certainly not quick!

This recipe is very simple to make, and it's a real energy booster. Unlike normal chocolate brownie, this recipe has chocolate added in rather than mixed in. Because of the oats, this recipe is also slightly on a healthy side, if you can possibly count brownie recipe healthy at all!

My friend brought this recipe back from a recent trip to America, so the recipe is measured in cups. To be honest, I've started to bake more and more using cups as a measure, and it's surprisingly easy! I can even remember a few recipes without getting the cookery book out.