Feijoa and ginger muffins

Feijoas are a somewhat divisive fruit in our family; some of us love them and the rest aren't too sure about the whole thing. But because Mum and Dad have a prolific little feijoa tree at their place, we tend to use them quite a bit during Autumn.

We picked loads on a recent visit, most of the fruit was made (by Mum) into a gorgeous fig and feijoa jam and I snaffled the rest for these fig and feijoa muffins. The brown sugar and ginger tang mixed well with the intense feijoa flavour and the kids seemed to love them while Mum suggested that such a good muffin recipe might only be improved with the omission of the fejioas.

While I was baking, the kids were making mess and masterpieces in the studio, which, when not invaded by us hangers on, is the location for Mum's fantastic residential art classes.

Feijoa and ginger muffins

Prep time 10 mins
Cook time 25 mins
Makes 12
This really is a good basic muffin recipe, so if like my Mum, you aren’t a feijoa fan, please swap them out with another seasonal fruit.

2 1/4 cups self-raising flour
1/2 tsp bicarbonate soda
1 tsp ground ginger
1 1/4 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
3/4 cup brown sugar
120g butter, melted
1 cup feijoas, peeled and roughly chopped

Preheat oven to 180C and grease or line a 12-hole muffin tray with paper cases. Sift dry ingredients together in a large bowl. In another bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, eggs, sugar and butter until well combined. Gently fold the wet and dry ingredients together and add the feijoas, stirring until just combined. Divide the batter between the muffin holes and bake for 25 minutes or until muffins are golden and cooked through.

Healthy chocolate and red currant muffins (in five minutes)

We sent Alice back to pre-school this morning with one of these in her lunch box. They are a regular output of our little kitchen and here's why...;

• They take take five minutes to throw together;
• They belong to the 'melt and mix' family so are a great for kids to make.
• They are healthy...well except for a little sugar and small amount of butter... and you can throw in loads of good things to pimp up the goodness factor. I like walnuts and LSA mix and sometimes add a little grated carrot;
• You can add any fruit that's in season. For these I used some red currants from Mum's garden, here's me (left) mid-pick...
• The raw cacao powder gives a deep chocolate flavour and extra health benefits. Nutritionist and blogger Sarah Britton converted me to raw cacao powder via this post on her amazing blog My New Roots. Her raw brownie is amazing (head over here to read the recipe then please try it). I generally use Loving Earth cacao powder which is available in lots of health food shops or online (also try their chocolate spread...amazing); and
• They freeze really well so are great for school or work lunches. Just pack them frozen and by morning tea time they should have thawed completely.

So in sum they really tick every box; the health one, the taste one, the convenience one and the feel-good one. Nice one!

1 cup wholemeal flour
1tsp baking powder
1/2 cup caster sugar
3 tbsp LSA powder
3 tbsp raw cacao powder
1 egg
1/2 cup buttermilk
50g melted butter
1/2 cup red currants or any other fruit
1/2 cup roughly chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 180C. Mix dry ingredients together then in a separate bowl mix the egg, milk and butter together. Make a well in the dry ingredients and add the wet ones. Lightly mix then add the walnuts and fruit. Spoon into muffin cases and cook for about 15 minutes. Makes about eight medium-sized muffins.