Garden Chive Fiesta Muffins

looks like i spoke too soon about the beautiful spring weather! the past two weeks have been sub zero and snowing! again! oh well, i guess we have to wait a bit longer. the snow has slowly evolced into more rain and flooding. my garden looks a bit like a swamp at the moment and the hens are hiding under the hen house. i can't blame them one bit.

to lift some spirits i wanted to pep up easter sunday with these warming Garden Chive Fiesta Muffins. they'll transport you straight to that sunny mexican beach holiday you're dreaming of. i also posted them as chives seem to be the only crop in the garden at the moment, along with the purple sprouting brocolli. but i decided that maybe 3 back-to-back posts on PSB would be too much.

these muffins look impressive, taste impressive and whip up in impressively no time at all. 15 minutes in the oven is all they take to double in size and cook through. i love the kick that the pickled pepperoncinis give to the muffins and married with chives, cheddar, and sour cream makes for one big fiesta of fun. their texture is airy and moist, almost popver-like. they bake perfect everytime.

you could honestly use anything in these savoury muffins, swapping any cheese or herbs. the original recipe is from the immensely popular Ming Makes Cupcakes site. ming's recipes for sweet and savoury cupcakes are inspiring and inventive. her recipe called for scallions which i substituted for chives and added the peppers for colour and kick. the recipe also called for melted butter but for some awful reason i was out of butter on easter sunday! i've use olive oil in place of melted butter in the past so i was confident it would add a nice flavour and a bit of health to these pepped up pastries. some other flavour combinations that i'd like to try are: blue cheese and bacon, roasted pumpkin gruyere and sage or ham cheddar and thyme.

if you're invited to a potluck or are having people over for drinks. this muffin recipe is the perfect thing to make.

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Garden Chive Fiesta Muffins
makes 8

2 cups (275g) plain flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1/4 cup (60 ml) olive oil
1 cup (240ml) sour cream
1 cup (50g) finely grated cheddar
1/2 cup (25g) finely chopped chives
3 tablespoons (25g) finely chopped pepperoncini
3 tablespoons (25g) finely diced red pepper

4 oz (100g) cream cheese
chive tips, for garnish

• preheat your oven to 210C (400F), lightly grease a standard sized cupcake pan with olive oil
• sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together
• stir in the eggs and olive oil
• then stir in the sour cream, you will have a stiff batter
• fold in the cheddar, chives, and peppers
• using two spoon drop the batter into the prepared baking pan, the batter should mound over the top of the pan a bit
• place the filled pan in the center of the oven and bake for roughly 15 minutes.
• check with a skewer inserted into the middle of the muffins, if it comes out clean they are done.
• let cool, then pop out of the pan
• beat your cream cheese in a bowl till soft. the dollop onto each muffin
• garnish with chive tips