Sunday 1 April 2012

Broccoli nuggets

I adapted this from a recipe on wholesome baby food.  Very impressed with the results.  My son ate 6 of these and after eating 6 myself I was full so his little tummy must have been bursting.  He kept just saying "more" and cried when he dropped a bit on the floor.  All that and I'd been struggling to get him to eat broccoli recently!




Broccoli Nuggets - Makes 12, enough for 1 adult and 1 toddler with some left over (unless you've got a greedy guts like mine!)  Should be fine for babies on fingerfoods*

Ingredients

1 slice of bread cut into 0.5-1 cm (approx) cubes (approx 1/5th inch)
140g, 5oz Cooked broccoli
65g, 2oz Extra mature or vintage cheddar
2 eggs

Method

Preheat the oven if you're intending to cook these immediately to 200oC / 400F.

Cut the bread into the cubes or, if you prefer, make into breadcrumbs (my food processor is currently packed away which is why I went for cubes but it worked really well.)

Mash the broccoli with a fork until it's coarsely mashed up.  Mix with the breadcrumbs.  Grate in the cheddar and break in the eggs.  Mix together.


Put into a greased silicone mini muffin tin (or you could use a cupcake tin or even a plain baking tray).  Bake in the oven for around 20 minutes.  It took 18 minutes in my oven.


*  Note, this recipe contains whole egg.  Some doctors used to recommend not serving egg white until older than than one year but certainly UK doctors now recommend fully cooked whole eggs as ok from 6 months but check in your country as advice differs.

Looking for a grown up broccoli recipe?  Try this side dish of broccoli, with chorizo.



If you like this recipe you might like; prawn and broccoli pie, a lovely cheesy broccoli and potato layered dish.  Or why not try broccoli and cheddar mini quiches?  A bit more effort but lovely and great for lunchboxes.  Or there's a variation on this recipe which I think (shhh) is actually a bit tastier... spinach and goats cheese bites!

52 comments:

  1. This looks good and my son won't eat broccoli. I would love to try it, but he's dairy free due to allergies :(

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    1. No way. I think the cheese is essential. Is he allergic to milk protein or to lactose?

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  2. Delicious! And what a great idea for kiddos :)
    Thanks for linking up to This Flourishing Life's Menu Monday!

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  3. We are doing lots of visiting this weekend and I am going to be baking these and taking them with me, they look divine and also so easy, thanks for this recipe.

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    1. Let me know how it goes. There's a baked frittata recipe on here somewhere too which would be good for taking with you on trips too. I hope it goes well!

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  4. I am SO making these! thanks so much for sharing :)

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    1. Thank you! I was pretty impressed. Broccoli is definitely on next weeks shopping list!

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  5. I just made these and my boy of 10 months wolfed down two as soon as they were cool, I think they are fantastic and even my partner had one and he NEVER eats broccoli! Thank you for sharing!

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    1. Awesome! I do love the fact we're all trying to get vegetables into our partners as well as our kids!

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  6. I know you don't like it but could I swap dijon mustard with the cheese? Is the cheese mainly there for the flavour and not binding?

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    1. I have nothing against mustard! I don't see anything wrong with that. The cheese is for flavour, the egg is binding it all.

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  7. No I meant that you don't like not having cheese! Ha.

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    1. Ah! Well I am a cheese fan. I worked in the cheese industry for a good few years!

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  8. Both my girls (1 & 3.5) loved these - thanks!

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    1. No problem, I'm finding as many adults as kids like them right now. Someone on twitter said they had them with BBQ sauce as a beer snack!

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  9. making these now! can't wait for my little one to try them

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  10. These are SO moorish! I added sweetcorn too and the whole family - 2.5 year old and 9 month old and of course the adults - loved them. Yum! Thanks. I'm really enjoying your blog; lovely food with simple recipes. You have livened up my kitchen!

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    1. Thank you for your lovely comment! What a great idea to mix up the vegetables! You made my day.

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  11. hi!! i've tried this and my girl loooovee it!! and her dad too :-) but i've added mince meat too.. thanks for the great and simple recepi!

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    1. That's a really good idea. Thanks for sharing it!

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  12. I'm definitely having a go at these. My two year old has only just started agreeing to eat broccoli so this will be a great way to encourage him to keep eating!

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    1. Yeah this got my son eating broccoli again! Good luck!

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  13. Have you tried freezing them to save for another day? They look lovely and can't wait to try them.

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    1. No I haven't. I have to be honest and say I'm doubtful on the freezing front as they are so high in egg. I'm sure you could but I doubt they'd be as nice (that said you can buy frozen omelettes in supermarkets nowadays! Go figure!)

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  14. yummy ! these were made with the intention of saving some for tomorrow but oops... my 13 month old and I ate the lot. Love your recipes and will be trying out more - thanks for sharing good easy home cooking.

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    1. No problem! All my recipes are very simple!

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  15. Brilliant idea! Can't wait to make these for my toddler.

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  16. These are so lovely, my sister, mum and aunt now make them for themselves, yum!

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  17. This looks great! 8've been looking for something to get some veggies in on crazy day with the little ones. I haven't experimented too much but came up with something similar with s
    Grated sweet potato and a little plain yogurt instead of bread, otherwise they're about the same. Yum!

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    1. Cool. I make something similar but in muffin form with sweet potato which works a treat. Give my sweetcorn fritters a go too!

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  18. I want to try these but we are vegetarian and don't eat eggs too :-( can i make this without egg?? i am open to give egg to my baby but i tried once n she had some stomach problem :-(.. she is 10 months old.

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    1. I'm sorry that's unlikely. They are quite 'eggy'. I'd have a chat to your doctor about your child. Allergies can run in families so it can be that you both have it but they might be able to test in a controlled way.

      Alternatively there are a list of links on the top right of this page, one of them is for 'egg free' where there are lots of egg free recipes for you and your child. A great one is the sugar free (and egg free) date cake.

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  19. Hi,

    I have 1 year daughter and she is kind of fussy eater, when I went through your post and I thought of try this recipe believe me she liked it very much.... I am going to try this once again this week. Please post some to recipe related to vegetable. My daughter is not a vegi lover :)

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    1. Try my fried rice, sweetcorn fritters or pasta bakes? Frittatas are also pretty good too. I'd still offer other vegetables alongside though because ALL kids are fussy at some point.

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  20. I don't know what's about this recipe but I just made those for my little girl who has not been eating well this week and actually skipped a lot of meals. Like your little boy, she ate 5 of them. This will definitely stay in my cookbook for future use. Thanks so muck

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    1. Wow! Thanks for letting me know and I hope your little one is feeling better soon!

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  21. Do you think these would freeze well? I'm all for batch cooking at the moment!

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    1. Hi please scroll up to my comments on this?

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  22. Im wondering about freezing them too....was wondering if you could freeze the mix or not?? I might freeze a couple of cooked ones and see what they come out like? Thats if the big kids dont eat them all first!!

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    1. Hi please scroll up to my comments on this?

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  23. Do you think these work with cooked frozen broccoli, or too soggy? I've a bag in the freezer that needs using up and these look great!

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    1. I would think it probably would work; what I recommend is that you defrost it first and drain off any water before use. I wouldn't cook it before incorporating into the bites. Let me know how it goes.

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    2. Yes they worked! I steamed the broccoli for a couple of minutes as didn't have time to wait to defrost, then left to drain/ cool.
      They also worked worked wonders as my son who's teething and is off his food actually ate some! Fantastic he's eaten something other than Weetabix, grapes or bananas today. :-)

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  24. My son loves brocolli and could do with a bit more dairy as he doesn't like milk or yoghurt......might try it in his lunch box

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  25. Made this into a bake as had increased (but not exact) quantities of all ingredients. Thought it woulc be dinner but nearly all gone at lunch!

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  26. Made this into a bake as had increased (but not exact) quantities of all ingredients. Thought it woulc be dinner but nearly all gone at lunch!

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  27. My lil one loved your broccoli nuggets AND the spinach goats cheese muffins were an absolute hit (and I am sure they could make fab party food!) whizzed up your courgette feta cheese ones and can't wait to see if he likes thme (as a snack - he's a massive eater!!!)

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