Orange and poppyseed muffins

The other day a colleague of mine brought in a huge bag of freshly picked oranges to the office.  As I opened the bag, I was overcome with that heady, citrus smell and knew I had to use those oranges to make something special.

Winter officially began in Australia over the weekend, and while the dying days of May were cold, foggy and damp, June has started with crisp blue skies and mild temperatures. With the sun shining outside, and those homegrown oranges glistening in my fruit bowl, I decided that orange and poppyseed muffins were the order of the day…

While I’m quite partial to baking a cake every now and again, muffins are nice compromise – they’re the perfect size for a mid-morning or mid-afternoon snack, freeze well and are handy to pack for work.

I used a recipe I found online at taste.com.au – Adam was quite content with the finished product but I think if I make them again, I’d add more juice, or maybe even a marmalade centre… for that extra hit of orange.

What you’ll need

• 1 x tablespoon of poppyseeds
• 3/4 cup of milk
• 2 1/2 cups of self raising flour
• 3/4 cup of caster sugar
• 125g of butter – melted
• 2 x teaspoons of finely shredded orange peel
• 1/4 cup of fresh orange juice
• icing sugar to dust (optional)

How to do it

1. Preheat a fan-forced oven to 190°.  Either grease with butter or line a 12 muffin tin with muffin cases.  Combine the poppyseeds and 1/4 cup of milk in a small bowl and set aside.
2. Combine the flour and sugar in a large bowl. Add in the poppyseed mixture with the remaining milk, butter eggs, orange rind and orange juice and stir until just combined.
3. Cook in the preheated oven for 25 minutes (this was spot on for my oven) and eat either warm or at room temperature.  For a decadent treat, dust with icing sugar.

I whipped these up after lunch and they made a delicious afternoon tea. The recipe was quick, simple… and while not the healthiest – you’ve got to treat yourself every now and again ;).

Have a wonderful week. x