And it’s perfect for school lunch boxes. 

I’m of course talking about muffins.  I once heard muffins referred to as ugly cupcakes and even though it made me smile, it’s really unfair towards muffins! These little morsels are a delight. 

I love muffins for breakfast at the weekend, only lightly smeared with butter and topped with even more cheese (if it’s a savoury muffin, of course).  I found a recipe I love below and it’s fitting that this home favourite kicks of this series.

So yes, February is the month of love, but on Cooking the Books, it’s also the month of muffins!

MARIANA’S COUNTRY KITCHEN - SPINACH AND CHEESE MUFFINS

These little savoury muffins will blow your mind.  It’s cheesy and delicious and even kids won’t mind that it contains spinach (which actually makes it quite good for you too).  Recipe creator Mariana Esterhuizen suggests that if you’re short on time in the morning, you could do all your preparation the night before, and just mix the wet and dry ingredients and bake when you’re ready. 

As with all muffin recipes, it’s important to not work the batter too much, otherwise your muffins will be tough, instead of light and fluffy.   

(Makes around 12 muffins)

330 g cake flour

2 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon fine salt

120 g onion, diced (about 1 medium-sized onion)

90 g spinach, finely chopped

30 g pickled Peppadews, finely chopped (about 5 Peppadews)

180 g mature Cheddar or Gruyère cheese

70 ml canola oil

125 ml milk

125 ml Bulgarian or Greek yoghurt (I used regular full-fat plain yoghurt)

2 jumbo free-range eggs

Preheat the oven to 180?C.  Line a 12-hole muffin tin with squares of baking paper, or use paper cups.

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a mixing bowl. Add the onions, spinach, Peppadews and 130 g of the cheese to the mixing bowl and stir until the vegetables and cheese are coated with the dry ingredients.  Pour the oil, milk, yoghurt, and eggs into a jug and whisk until the eggs are broken up and combined with the rest of the ingredients.

Add the liquid mixture to the mixing bowl and stir carefully to form a soft batter. Stir only until the dry and wet ingredients are combined and then leave it alone. Spoon the batter into the muffin tin and sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top. Bake for 25-30 minutes until the cheese starts browning on top.  Remove the muffins from the pan and leave on a cooling rack for 10 minutes.

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ooOoo