Zucchini, Feta + Cashew Muffins

Soft, cheesy muffins packed with zucchini goodness, salty feta a sweet cashews.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups (280 grams) all purpose flour
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• pinch cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon dried tarragon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup (85 grams) chopped roasted unsalted cashews
• 1/2 cup (55 grams) grated tasty cheddar
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup (24o mls) whole milk
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 cup (150 grams before pressing) grated zucchini
• 4 ounces (115 grams) feta, roughly crumbled into chunks
• smoked paprika for garnish

– If using metric cups, reduce volume measures by 1 tablespoon for every cup of dry or liquid ingredients – 

Equipment:

• Bowls and spoons
• Box grater

Directions:

Heat the oven to 220C (425F). Line a regular muffin pan with paper cases. Whisk the flour, baking powder, cayenne, tarragon and salt together in a large bowl. Mix in the grated cheese and chopped cashews.

In a separate bowl whisk together the milk, egg and vegetable oil. Grate the zucchini and measure it. Spread the grated zucchini out on a bed of 2 paper towels and press with a second pair of paper towels. This will draw out a lot of the excess moisture in the zucchini which can make the muffins soggy.

Mix the zucchini into the wet ingredients. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and add the crumbled feta. Fold quickly and gently until the flour is just moistened.

Divide evenly between the 12 muffin cups. These will be generous muffins, and you can stretch the mixture to 15 muffins to make it go further. Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with a little smoked paprika.

Bake for 17-20 minutes until golden on top and the muffins spring back when pressed in the centre. The muffins will rise up in beautiful crags rather than spreading over and creating a ‘muffin top’.

Enjoy as soon as they are cool enough to handle!

Cook’s Notes:

• Add more chopped veges if you like, capsicum, artichokes and sweetcorn all work well here

 – These muffins are best the day they are made but keep well for 2 to 3 days in an airtight container. They also freeze well for longer keeping – 

© 2016 The Winsome Baker. All images & content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words, or link back to this post for the recipe.