Cheese, Tomato & Herbs Muffins

I made these savoury muffins for a friend's house-warming party. As we had planned to go round to hers straight after work I needed something that could have been made the evening before, be easily transportable and did not require to be stored in the fridge. So I came up with this idea! The flavour combinations for savoury muffins can truly be endless. I gave mine an Italian twist using cherry tomatoes, basil and oregano.

INGREDIENTS (makes 12 muffins)

• 275 gr plain flour
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 225 ml milk
• 110 gr butter, melted
• 2 eggs
• 20 cherry tomatoes, quartered
• 100 gr cheddar cheese
• 5 leaves of fresh basil (or 1 tsp dried basil)
• 1 tsp of dried oregano
• 1 tsp of pepper

Preheat the oven at 200° C and place 12 muffin cases in a baking tray (it's easier if you use one that has holes already predisposed for muffins). Place the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl and mix them all together. In another bowl, whisk the eggs, milk and melted butter and stir in the cheese, tomatoes and herbs.

Fold the flour mixture into the wet mixture little by little, mixing well and making sure all the flour is evenly incorporated and no pockets are left. Your mixture will look quite unattractive, but don't worry about it :-)

Gently spoon the mixture in your muffin cases.

Bake them in the oven for 20 - 25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the centre of one of the muffins. Leave them to cool completely on a wire rack before serving them, and store them in an air-tight container. If you leave them develop their flavour for one night, they'll be even more delicious the following day. I gave a couple to my boyfriend for his packed lunch and he gave me the thumbs up in return :-)