Ham and Cheese Muffins with Thyme

My first savoury muffin post! My kids and I loveeee cheese so this is a favourite for the lunch box.

Ham and Cheese Muffins with Thyme 

Makes 12 muffins

Ingredients

dry
1 1/2 cups (220 gr) self raising flour
1 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp white pepper

wet
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup cooking oil
1 tsp thyme, chopped
150 gr (3 cups)  cheddar or tasty cheese, grated
100 gr ham, chopped

Method

• Preheat oven to 180 C (350 F) and place muffin papers in muffin tins or grease muffin tins well with butter.
• Shift and mix the dry ingredients.
• Combine all the wet ingredients leaving 1 cup of cheese for later in a separate bowl and whisk lightly.
• Pour into flour mixture and stir with a fork until just combined. Do not overmix.
• Spoon the batter equally into muffin tins. 
• Sprinkle with the remaining cheese.
• Bake for 20 - 25 minutes or until skewer comes out clean.

Pink Fairy Muffins

Fairy Muffins

This was another treat for the girls during the holidays. They are into Pearlie the park fairy so were quite excited when I told them we were going to make fairy muffins instead of the usual fairy bread. We made this together and they had fun frosting the muffins and eating the icing and 100s & 1000s along the way.

We added the 100s & 1000s in the batter hoping we can see those colourful dots when we cut the muffins but as expected they melted and we can only see faint colours. I think they still look pretty though. If you don't want to ice them, just sprinkle some 100s & 1000s  on top of the muffins before you bake them. I think they look quite pretty even without the icing.

Fairy muffins without icing

Pink Fairy Muffins 


Makes 12 muffins

Ingredients

dry
1 1/2 cups (220 gr) self raising flour
1/2 cup (115 gr) caster sugar
2 tbsp 100s & 1000s

wet
2 eggs
3/4 cup milk
3/4 cup cooking oil
1 tsp vanilla extract

icing
1 1/4 cups icing sugar
3 tbsp milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
a few drops pink/red food colouring
100s & 1000s

Method

• Preheat oven to 180 C (350 F) and place muffin papers in muffin tins or grease muffin tins well with butter.
• Mix the dry ingredients except 100s & 1000s.
• Combine all the wet ingredients in a separate bowl and whisk lightly.
• Pour into flour mixture and stir with a fork until just combined. Do not overmix.
• Add the 100s & 1000s and mix lightly
• Spoon the batter equally into muffin tins. 
• Bake for 20 - 25 minutes or until skewers come out clean.
• Let cool before icing them.
• To make the icing, stir milk into sugar then add vanilla extract and colouring. You want it to be a bit thick so it is easier to ice the muffins. Add more milk or sugar until you have the consistency you want.
• Enjoy.

Chocolate Marshmallow Muffins

It was the last day of school for the term so I thought of giving the kids a bit of a treat. I wanted to make a surprised mashmallow muffin where the marshmallow melts and oozes out when you bite into the muffin. However the marshmallow floats up instead so it's not exactly how I wanted it but they tasted great anyway. When I make this again, I will probably add more marshmallows and really push them in so they don't float up.

Chocolate Marshmallow Muffins 

Makes 8 muffins

Ingredients
dry
1 1/2 cups (220 gr) self raising flour
1/2 cup (115 gr) caster sugar
3 tbsp cocoa powder
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
8 marshmallows

wet
1 egg
3/4 cup milk
3/4 cup cooking oil
1 tsp vanilla essence

Method

• Preheat oven to 180 C (350 F) and place muffin papers in muffin tins or grease muffin tins well with butter.
• Mix the dry ingredients except marshmallows.
• Combine all the wet ingredients in a separate bowl and whisk lightly.
• Pour into flour mixture and stir with a fork until just combined. Do not overmix.
• Spoon one generous tablespoon of batter into muffin tins. 

• Place the marshmallows in the centre 

• Cover with more batter until full.

• Bake for 20 - 25 minutes or until skewers come out clean.
• Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes before turning out.
• Enjoy.

Orange Marmalade Poppy Seeds Muffins

This is one of my favourite muffins but somehow I have never gotten to bake this until now. I googled "orange poppy seeds muffin" and a recipe from taste.com.au came on top. It has pretty good reviews so I decided to use it with some modifications. Most of the comments left were they could use more orange juice and rind hence I added more of those and I tried adding marmalade to give it more orange taste. I think it worked rather well. When I bake this again, I might add another teaspoon of orange rind just to see if it make it better  but I am quite happy with how it turned out.

Orange Marmalade Poppy Seeds Muffins 
Adapted from taste.com.au

Makes 12 muffins

Ingredients

dry
2 cups self raising flour
3/4 cups castor sugar
2 tbsp poppy seeds

wet
2 eggs
1/2 cup orange juice (from 1 medium orange)
3/4 cup milk
125 gr butter, melted
3 tsp finely grated orange rind (from 2 medium orange)
2 tbsp marmalade

Method

• Preheat oven to 180 C (350 F) and place muffin papers in muffin tins or grease muffin tins well with butter.
• Mix the dry ingredients.
• Combine all the wet ingredients in a separate bowl and whisk lightly.
• Pour into flour mixture and stir with a fork until just combined. Do not overmix.
• Spoon batter into muffin tins equally (about 2 1/2 tbsp each).
• Bake for 20 - 25 minutes or until slightly browned on top.
• Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes before turning out.
• Enjoy.

Pandan Muffin

Pandan or screwpine leaves, also known as asian vanila is one of my favourite ingredients. They are very fragrant and taste devine. My girls and  I crave pandan chiffon cake every now and then but with three kids I don't get to bake it as often as I would like to. This pandan muffin is a shortcut version. They are so easy to make, very moist and taste beautiful. They are also good for lunch box because of their "cool" green colour. 

You can get the  pandan paste from most asian grocer. Try to get Koepoe Koepoe brand from Indonesia which is very thick and has beautiful colour and aroma.

pandan paste - koepoe koepoe brand

Pandan Muffins

Makes 12 muffins

Ingredients

2 cups self raising flour
3/4 cups castor sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup milk
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp pandan paste


Method

• Preheat oven to 180 C (350 F) and place muffin papers in muffin tins or grease muffin tins well with butter.
• Mix flour and castor sugar.
• Combine milk, coconut milk, oil, egg and pandan paste in a separate bowl and whisk lightly.
• Pour into flour mixture and stir with a fork until just combined. Do not overmix.
• Spoon batter into muffin tins about 3/4 full.
• Bake for 25-30 minutes or until slightly browned on top.
• Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes before turning out.
• Enjoy.

Lime Curd Muffins

A friend of ours called one morning asking if I wanted to make tart. Apparently, he had lots of limess from his tree. Who would say no to that? He came with a bag of lovely limes so I decided to make mini lime meringue tarts. They are divine and finished within hours but I was left with some lime curd. I made the lime curd muffins the next day. It was another hit! The muffins were delicious and moist with a tangy bite. I didn't think the kids would like them because of the tartness but they couldn't stop eating them. So go ahead and make this especially if you have some lemon curd sitting in the fridge.

lime curd muffin - no toppings

For the lime curd, I used Gary Mehigan's recipe from Masterchef Australia. It is a really easy recipe as you just need to microwave it and the curd is beautifull and really tangy!

Lime Curd Muffins

Makes 12 muffins

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups (220 gr) self raising flour
3/4 cup milk
2 eggs
1/2 cups castor sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
juice of 2 limes
rind of 2 limes, finally grated
1 tsp vanilla essence
lime curds (see below)

Method

• Preheat oven to 180 C (350 F) and place muffin papers in muffin tins or grease muffin tins well with butter.
• Mix flour and caster sugar.
• Combine milk, juice, oil, egg and lime rind in a separate bowl and whisk lightly.
• Pour into flour mixture and stir with a fork until just combined. Do not overmix.
• Spoon batter into muffin tins about 1/3 full, spoon a tablespoon of curd then spoon the muffin butter on top of the curd until about 2/3 full.
• Bake for 20-25 minutes or until browned on top.
• Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes before turning out.
• Once cool, spoon a tablespoon of curd on top of the muffin.
• Enjoy.

lime curd muffin

Lime Curds
Gary Mehigan - Masterchef Australia

Makes approx. 2 cups 

Ingredients
3 whole eggs
2 egg yolks
170g (3/4 cup) caster sugar
125g unsalted butter, cubed
finely grated rind of 2 lime
200ml lemon juice, from about 3 big limes
http://cornercafe.wordpress.com/

Method

• Beat whole eggs, egg yolks and sugar in in a microwave-safe bowl until incorporated. Add butter to the egg mixture.
• Add grated lime rind and lime juice,stir and place into microwave.
• Microwave, uncovered, on medium for 1 minute then stir. Repeat 8 times or until the mixture thickens. 
• Store in sterilized jar in the refrigerator.

Carrot Cake Muffins with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

I have baked carrot muffins a few times but have not found a recipe that I really like, not until now. I am using a recipe from Smitten Kitchen and it is definitely a keeper. It is very moist and light. I reduced the amount of sugar and added some sultanas. My kids loved them even without the frosting and it is a great way of having them eating their vegetables.

Since I have leftover cream cheese seating in the fridge, I made the frosting as well. It's a lovely frosting with a hint of maple but I will probably omit the maple syrup next time mostly because I am so used to having carrot cake with plain cream cheese frosting.

Carrot Cake Muffins with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Makes 12 muffins

Ingredients

muffins
1 cups self raising flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3/4 cups sugar
1/2 cups + 1 tbsp canola oil
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups grated peeled carrots
1/2 cup sultanas

frosting
80 gr cream cheese, softened
40 gr unsalted butter, room temperature
2/3 cups icing sugar
2 tbsp pure maple syrup

Method

• Preheat oven to 180°C.
• Line 12 muffin molds with papers, or butter and flour them.
• Whisk flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg in medium bowl to blend. Whisk sugar and oil in large bowl until well blended. Whisk in eggs 1 at a time. Add flour mixture and stir until blended. Stir in carrots and sultanas. Divide batter among muffin molds, filling 3/4 of each.
• Bake muffins 18 to 20 minutes, or until a tester inserted into the center of one comes out clean. Let cool in pans for five minutes or so, then transfer cakes to a cooling rack. Let cool completely before icing them.
• For the frosting, beat all the ingredients on medium until fluffy. Chill the frosting for 10 to 20 minutes, until it has set up enough to spread smoothly.

Triple Chocolate Mini Muffins

Triple Chocolate Mini Muffins

These are one of the muffins that I bake all the time. A real crowd pleaser and so easy to make. Whenever I need to bring a plate to share and am not sure what to bring, these mini muffins never fail me. Everyone loves them and they are just the right size. Give this a try and let me know what you think.

Triple Chocolate Mini Muffins

I used Stephanie Alexander "The Cook's Companion" basic muffin recipe again for these mini muffins with some modification.

Triple Chocolate Mini Muffins
 Adapted from Stephanie Alexander  "The Cook's Companion"

Makes 48 mini muffins

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups (220 gr) self raising flour
3/4 cup milk
2 eggs
1/2 cups castor sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
3 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla essence

Method

• Preheat oven to 180 C (350 F) and place muffin papers in muffin tins or grease muffin tins well with butter.
• Sift flour and cocoa powder then mix with sugar and chocolate chips.
• Combine milk, egg, oil and vanilla essence in a separate bowl and whisk lightly.
• Make a well in centre of dry ingredients, pour in liquid and mix lightly.
• Spoon batter equally into muffin tins to almost full.
• Bake for 13-15 minutes or until the skewer comes out clean.

Triple Chocolate Mini Muffins

Mixed Berries White Chocolate Muffins

Mixed Berries White Chocolate Muffins

I made these with my little one. She loves helping out in the kitchen and muffins are prefect to make with kids. They get to do a lot of mixing and nothing much can go wrong really. Just make sure they don't overmix.

I used the basic muffin recipe from "The Cook's Companion" by Stephanie Alexander which is my favourite recipe. I added frozen mixed berries (blackberries, strawberries, raspberries and blueberries) and white chocolate chips. One tip with using frozen berries is not to defrost them before using because they tend to "bleed". The muffins were lovely, moist and most importantly, the kids loved them! 

Mixed Berries White Chocolate Muffins

Mixed Berries White Chocolate Muffins
Adapted from Stephanie Alexander  "The Cook's Companion"

Makes 12 muffins

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups (220 gr) self raising flour
3/4 cup milk
1 egg
1/2 cups castor sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup frozen mixed berries
1 tsp vanilla essence

Method

• Preheat oven to 180 C (350 F) and place muffin papers in muffin tins or grease muffin tins well with butter.
• Mix flour, sugar and white chocolate chips.
• Combine milk, egg, oil and vanilla essence in a separate bowl and whisk lightly.
• Make a well in centre of dry ingredients, pour in liquid and mix lightly.
• Add the berries and lightly mix.
• Spoon batter equally into muffin tins, about 2/3 full.
• Bake for 20-25 minutes.
• Enjoy!

Note
Try to use muffin cases as the berries tend to stick the tin.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Muffins

This recipe has been in my "must try" list for a while but I have only made it today. One of the reasons is because my daughter is allergic to peanut. She was a little upset when she found out that I have baked these and made me promise to bake something without peanut in it.

My other daughter is allergic to milk. She has rashes around her mouth when she drinks milk but she can take muffin without any allergic reaction. I used to wonder why and recently read an article "Muffins may help reduce milk allergy" on ABC. Apparently, heating milk changes the shape of its protein, lessening the chance the immune system will react. The study shown that allergic children who were given cooked milk, baked into muffins over the course of months or years saw their symptoms disappear faster than children who simply avoided milk products. You should discuss it with your doctor before trying this approach though.

These muffins are delicious. I was pleasantly surprised that they are still moist even when they were cold considering the amount of peanut butter in it.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Muffins
Adapted from The Frugal Girls

Makes 12 muffins

Ingredients

2 cups self raising flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup milk
2 eggs
2/3 cups sugar
1 1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

Method

• Preheat oven to 180 C (350 F) and place muffin papers in muffin tins or grease muffin tins well with butter.
• Mix flour, sugar and chocolate chips.
• Whisk lightly milk, egg, peanut butter, oil and salt in a separate bowl. 
• Pour into flour mixture and stir with a fork until just combined. Do not overmix.
• Spoon batter into muffin tins until almost full, then sprinkle with a bit of sugar.
• Bake for about 25 minutes.
• Enjoy!

Mandarin Almond Muffins

I love muffins. They not only taste great but are probably one of the easiest things to bake. You just need to mix the wet and dry ingredients. No electric mixer needed. I enjoy trying out new recipes with whatever is in season, what I have in the pantry or in the fridge. I tend to forget what I made before though so hopefully this blog will help me to jot down all the recipes.

Mandarin Almond Muffins

I'll start with mandarins as they are in season now and I can't stop eating them. These muffins are light and the almond flakes give them a lovely texture.

Mandarin Almond Muffins

Makes 12 muffins

Ingredients

1 ½ cups self-raising flour

½ cup castor sugar

½ cup milk

½ cup mandarin juice

½ cup vegetable oil

1 egg

1 tbsp finely grated mandarin rind

Almond flakes

Method

• Preheat oven to 180 C (350 F) and place muffin papers in muffin tins or grease muffin tins well with butter.
• Mix flour and caster sugar.
• Combine milk, juice, oil, egg and mandarin rind in a separate bowl and whisk lightly.
• Pour into flour mixture and stir with a fork until just combined. Do not overmix.
• Spoon batter into muffin tins about 2/3 full, then sprinkle with almond flakes.
• Bake for 20-25 minutes or until browned on top.
• Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes before turning out.
• Enjoy.

Note

• I wanted big muffins today so I spoon the batter into the tin almost full (made 8 muffins) and baked them for about 30 minutes.
• I used 5 mandarins to get 1 tbsp of rind.