Cheesy broccoli, carrot and corn muffins

Instead of cooking dinner last night I baked a batch of muffins.  Perhaps it is the influence of the book I am reading (All that I Am by Anna Funder).  I loved reading about a character being given a depressing single serve of casserole covered in gladwrap; she had a slice of frozen cheesecake instead.  It sounds worthy of Sister Monica Joan whose wicked sweet tooth we are enjoying in the wonderful Call the Midwife on tv lately.  Our muffins, however, were savoury.

I had not planned to make the muffins for tea.  They were a spur of the moment thing.  One minute I was browsing recent blog entries and the next I realised that I had the ingredients for the recipe on Hungry Happens.  We love planning our week's meals but it is fun to feel inspired enough to leave the laptop and make the recipe.

It is also perfect weather for baking.  This morning the temperature dipped to 0.7 C with frosts predicted.  We rarely have to worry about frosts these days, unlike when I was growing up.  This is a week for blasting the heater and drinking hot cups of tea.  Having the oven on and the smell of muffins baking helps warm us.

I experimented with different flour that the usual white flour.  When I have tried different flours, chickpea flour is one of my favourites.  It tastes pleasant and has lots of protein and nutrients.  I was really pleased it worked with the wholemeal flour.  I find that wholemeal flour is a bit heavy all by itself but I am keen to use less white flour

The end result was a lovely soft muffin with lots of vegetable speckles.  Sylvia was not there when I was inspired to up and bake.  She was very pleasantly surprised when she came in and found there were warm muffins for tea.  We then talked about all the different vegetable combinations we might like to try in this recipe such as zucchini with corn and tofu bacon.  I have quite a few savoury recipes in my recipe index and this one is a fine addition.  We are looking forwards to having these again, maybe with soup next time.

More savoury muffin recipes on Green Gourmet Giraffe:

Cheddar, kale and facon muffins
Pumpkin miso muffins (v)
Savoury beetroot, carrot, chocolate and goats cheese muffins
Savoury carrot turmeric muffins (v) 
Smoky parsnip muffins
Sweet potato, 'feta' and sauerkraut muffins (v) 

Cheesey broccoli, carrot and corn muffins
Slightly adapted from Hungry Happens
Makes 12

Wet ingredients:

1 generous cup of finely chopped broccoli
1 medium carrot, grated (almost 1 cup)
1 cob of fresh corn kernels (about 1/2 cup)
1 and 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese
1/3 cup milk (I used soy)
1/3 cup Greek yogurt
1/4 cup olive oil
2 eggs

Dry ingredients:

1 cup wholemeal plain flour
1 cup besan (chickpea flour)
2 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp dried parsley
1 tsp mustard powder
3/4 tsp salt

Grease or line 12 hole muffin tin.  Preheat oven to 180 C.
(NOTE: I baked mine at 190 C because my oven always bakes cooler than the average oven.)

Mix the wet ingredients in a large mixing bowl.  Stir in the dry ingredients.  The batter is quite thick but as the vegetables cook they release some liquid.  Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown and a skewer inserted in the middle will come out clean. 

On the Stereo:
Mermaids in the Well: Kavisha Mazzella