Fook It, Just Cook It!: Spinach & cheese muffins

Hmmm, muffins...

So maybe the word "muffins" sounds like I'm cheating at Lent, but sure I have to live on something!! Actually I offered to bake these for a retirement party in work. I knew there would be lots of goodies at the party so I thought I would make something tasty so I wouldn't feel like I was missing out!

I got this recipe in the The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook. It's a very pretty book with lots of yummy looking cupcakes/muffins/pies/ brownies/cakes and cookies. Thanks to Áine who gave me the book as a Kris Kringle present this Christmas.
I adapted the recipe based on whatever cheese was in the fridge at the time. I used half mature Wexford cheddar cheese, half parmesan in the first batch and then just mature Wexford cheddar cheese in the second batch. Using the parmesan meant the mixture was quite dry but they were tasty muffins. If you don't like a strong cheese flavour, mild cheddar would be fine to use.

Spinach and cheese muffins
Ingredients(makes 12)
30g butter
half a small red onion, finely chopped
360g plain flour
2 and a half teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
250g mature cheddar cheese or
125g mature cheddar cheese and 125g parmesan, grated
220mls low fat milk
1 egg
65g spinach leaves, cut in strips or 130g baby spinach leaves

use a 12-hole muffin tray
I got some tulip muffin wraps in Kitchen Complements(Chatham Row, Dublin) for presentation purposes, the muffins expand alot so you will need big muffin cases. Bake in preheated oven (170 degrees celsius /325 degrees fahrenheit/Gas mark 3.

Melt the butter in a saucepan over a medium heat,. Fry the onion until cooked and set aside.

Put the flour, baking powder, cayenne pepper and cheese in a large bowl .

Mix the milk and egg together in another bowl, then slowly pour into the flour mixture and beat with a handheld electric whisk* until all the ingredients are mixed well.

*A word of warning, the mixture can be very dry, so be careful when using the handheld electric whisk because I was afraid mine was going to explode under the pressure. It's possible that another egg could be added to make the mixture easier to blend.

Stir in the onion and spinach with a wooden spoon until evenly dispersed. Spoon the mixture into the papercases until half full* and bake for 30-35mins, or until deep golden and sponge bounces back when touched.

*the cookbook said two-thirds full but I found these to be quite filling to eat so I felt half full was plenty.