Savoury muffins

Photographer: Emma
Makes 12 muffins

These muffins are from our Fisher & Paykel Cookbook.  They are studded with pinenuts and olives and flavoured with fresh herbs, and when you bite into them gooey mozzarella cheese oozes from their centre.

This recipe is versatile and can be adapted to be flavoured with whatever you might have on hand.  I made some the other day with silverbeet from my garden which resulted in green and red flecked muffins.  You could also use capers or preserved red peppers, and instead of the mozzarella you could try using cream cheese.  Make a whole batch of these and freeze them so that you can grab one on your way to work in the morning.

INGREDIENTS


1/3 cup toasted pinenuts
2 cups flour
4 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
½ tsp black pepper
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated
½ cup cheddar cheese, grated
2 large eggs
1 ½ cups buttermilk
2 tbsp fresh herbs (I used oregano)
12 black olives, pitted and chopped
12 cubes mozzarella cheese (roughly 1 x 1cm cubed)

METHOD


1. Pre-heat the oven to 215º C bake and grease a 12 hole medium muffin tin.
2. In a large bowl mix the flour, baking powder, salt, pepper and cheeses together. In another bowl beat the eggs and combine with the buttermilk, herbs and olives.
3. Combine the wet and dry ingredients until just mixed. Don’t over beat. Fill 1/3 of the greased muffin tins with the mixture and place a cube of mozzarella into the centre. Put the remaining mixture on top, completely covering the mozzarella (the tins should be around ¾ full) and bake for 12-15 minutes, until well risen and golden on the outside. Leave in the pan for 10 minutes then turn out onto a rack to cool.