Mini Mandarin and Poppy seed Muffins

Mandarins are currently in season here in South-East Queensland and are, as a result, super cheap at the farmers market. This morning a got a good sized bag of them for just a couple of dollars.

They’re sweet, pretty much seedless, and the skins are quite thin – all of which makes them perfect for one of those recipes where the whole fruit is blitzed. In a fabulous piece of synchronicity I came across this recipe from my friend Sammie at The Annoyed Thyroid earlier this week.

These would be great, I thought, to whip up and stash in the freezer. It was a great idea in theory – unfortunately though, they didn’t last long enough to make it into the freezer. Luckily they’re quick and easy to make. 

So quick that you’ll have bite-sized muffins and the kitchen clean again within about 30 minutes of deciding to bake them.

I blitzed the mandarins in the Nutribullet, but any small food processor will do the trick. 

Finally, remember the golden rule with muffins – don’t over-work them. The mix should be just slapped together – any more and you’ll end up with a dry, crumby muffin.

Before you start

• Grease a mini muffin tray – I have a 24-hole one. You don’t need the palaver of little cases.
• pre-heat your oven to 200C, or 180C if fan-forced

What you need

• 2 large mandarins, blitzed. I used 4 small ones, but don’t get too hung up on the quantities
• 50g melted butter
• 1 large egg
• 100g milk (I used low fat because that’s what we had in the fridge)
• 90g caster sugar
• 175g self-raising flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 tablespoon poppy seeds

What you do with it

• Whisk together the butter, egg and milk in a jug
• In a separate bowl, stir together the caster sugar, flour and baking powder
• Introduce your jug ingredients to your bowl ingredients and mix until just combined. 
• Fold in the blitzed mandarins and the poppy seeds
• Spoon into the prepared muffin tin and pop in the oven for 15 minutes. They should appear well-risen, golden and firm to the touch