Tomato Basil Feta Muffins

I love savory muffins, and these take advantage of the summer harvest: tomatoes and fresh basil! (there is a fall version with butternut squash feta and spinach). They are a great snack with a glass of white wine on those longer summer evenings, or a side to a salad for lunch, or go well to the picnic on the beach.

• 1 TB butter for 12-hole muffin pan
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup quinoa flour
• 4 ts baking powder
• 1/2 ts seasalt
• 3/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 ts grainy mustard
• fresh ground black pepper
• 100 g feta, cut into small dice
• 1/2 pint cherry tomatoes
• handful basil leaves, chiffonade
• about 12 springs of thyme, chopped
• 4-6 kale leaves, chopped

Preheat oven to 405F / 200C, with rack in the top third. Use the butter to grease a 12-hole muffin pan and set aside.

Quarter the cherry tomatoes, and arrange on a foil covered baking sheet. Sprinkle with olive oil and some salt and pepper, and bake for 15 minutes until slightly wilted and caramelized, but not completely cooked. Set aside to cool.

Transfer the baked cherry tomatoes to a large mixing bowl along with the sliced basil, chopped thyme, chopped kale, toasted pine nuts, and the feta. Gently fold together. In a separate bowl beat the eggs, milk and mustard together and add to the tomato mix. Mix the flour, baking powder and salt, and sift onto the tomato mix, top with a generous dose of freshly ground black pepper and fold together just until the batter comes together, be careful not to over mix. Spoon the mixture into the prepared pan, filling each hole 3/4 full. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the tops and sides of the muffins are golden, and the muffins have set up completely. Let cool for a couple minutes then turn out onto a cooling rack.

Vegan chocolate cupcakes

Today, the trip to the farmer market brought sweet treats. I am not really big on sweets, but decided I want to support the newly opened vegan and gluten-free bakery stand with the adorable name Irish Daisy on the farmers market, which popped up this spring. First of all the cupcakes look just adorable, second they are VEGAN and third, the samples say “incredible baking”. Currently, I am a bit at a loss as of what to buy at the farmers market, because eggs, fish and chicken as well as goat cheese are kind of out of the question, and there is not much green stuff beside seedlings and radishes yet. So, I arrived to the FM with the purpose of finally buying a vegan cupcake. Of course, I had to sample the vegan whoopie pies. So good!