Recipe: Zucchini muffins with feta, basil and lemon

Zucchini muffins with feta, basil and lemon. Photo / Olivia Moore - That Green Olive

Growing up, we often had savoury muffins with our stews and casseroles to mop up all the sauce. For me, the savoury muffin was the most exciting part of the meal! Ours always had chunky bits in them: sometimes sundried tomatoes, sometimes bacon, and always lots of cheese. We often toasted them in the oven with butter until they were nice and crispy, and then - of course - slathered them with even more butter.

These muffins make use of the last of this season’s zucchinis!

I love the combination of feta, basil and lemon - the flavours are bright and fresh, and pair perfectly with the fluffy denseness of almond meal. Whether you serve them with dinner, enjoy them for morning tea or heat them up for breakfast, you just can’t go wrong with a good savoury muffin.

Visit Olivia’s website for more recipes: www.thatgreenolive.com.

Ingredients

Makes six

● 150g almond meal

● 75g flour

● 2 tsp baking powder

● 1 egg

● 1/4 tsp salt

● 75g butter

● 175ml milk

● 75g grated cheese

● 150g zucchini, grated and moisture squeezed out

● Zest and juice of 1 large lemon (you’ll need 3-4 Tbsp juice)

● 10g basil leaves, finely shredded

● 40g feta, crumbled

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180C. Lightly grease or line six large muffin holes.

2. In a large bowl, combine all dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, beat the butter and egg for five minutes until light and creamy. Add to the dry ingredients along with the milk, zucchini, grated cheese, lemon and basil. Season with pepper and mix until just combined. Add feta and stir gently to distribute.

3. Divide among prepared muffin holes, and crumble a little feta over the top of each. Bake for 30 minutes, or until nicely browned on top. The muffins should still be moist, but a skewer inserted should come out mostly clean.

4. Allow the muffins to cool slightly before transferring them to a cooling rack. Enjoy warm, with plenty of butter.