Orange, Chocolate & Watercress Muffins
These muffins are delicious for breakfast, dinner or teatime, though I would leave off the frosting first thing in the morning! Watercress gives them a slightly savoury flavour but that’s balanced with a scattering of chocolate (a good bitter chocolate is ideal) and a pop of orange.
Makes 10
Preparation 20 minutes; if frosting add 15 minutes | Cooking 25 - 30 minutes
Ingredients:
For the muffins:
125g watercress
50g butter
175g sunflower oil
250g caster sugar
3 medium free-range eggs
310g self-raising flour
30g full fat or semi-skimmed milk
Finely grated zest of 1 orange
100g chocolate chips
For the frosting:
100g butter
250g icing sugar
3 tablespoons of orange juice
Method:
Line a 12-hole muffin tin with 10 paper cases around the outside, leaving the two middle holes free (I typically cook my muffins this way as frequently the middle ones don’t cook properly).
Put the oven on at Gas 4/180C. Chop the watercress very finely, ideally in a blender.
Melt the butter (unless it’s already very soft) and combine it with the sunflower oil in a mixing bowl. Add the sugar, eggs, flour and milk and mix well – the batter will come together quickly and won’t take too much elbow grease.
Stir in the orange zest, chocolate chips and watercress. Divide the mixture evenly amongst the 10 muffin cases and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until they are raised and golden. Test with a skewer – it should come out clean when inserted in the middle. Leave the muffins to cool.
To make the frosting, put the butter, icing sugar and orange juice in a bowl and beat until well blended and light in colour. Top the muffins with the frosting.
Store for up to 4 days in an airtight container.
Recipe by Lizzie Crow | Photography by Lara Jane Thorpe
