pizza in a cuppa

I don't know what has got into me when I googled using the key words 'pizza muffins'.

I have some left over cheese, ham and pineapples after making a seafood pizza and a hawaiian pizza. Not knowing what to do with the leftover ingredients, I surfed the net for recipe ideas. Nothing much inspires me when I searched using the words such as 'ham and pineapple'. A silly thought suddenly came to my mind and I typed 'pizza muffins' in the search box. I wasn't expecting anything at all...but to my surprise, pizza muffins is actually nothing new!

It took me no time to decide on this Hawaiian pizza muffins by Donna Hay since I have most of the ingredients on hand. I halved the recipe and adapted it slightly as I needed to substitute a couple of the ingredients.

These delicious savoury muffins smell just like pizzas when they are baking in the oven! They are great for afternoon snacks and certainly a great way to use up any left over pizza ingredients :)


Hawaiian Pizza Muffins

Ingredients:
(makes 9)

225g plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dried mixed herbs (optional)
105g grated cheddar (divide into 60g and 45g portion)
100g ham, chopped
100g chopped pineapple, drained
80ml vegetable oil (I used canola oil)
1 tablespoon tomato paste (I replaced with 2 tablespoons pasta sauce)
1 egg
120ml milk

Method:

• Preheat oven to 180°C.
• Sieve flour, baking powder into a mixing bowl. Add salt, mixed herbs (if using), 60g of the grated cheese, ham and pineapple, mix to combine. 
• Place the oil, tomato paste (I used pasta sauce), egg and milk in a bowl and whisk to combine. 
• Add the liquid mixture to the flour mixture, with a spatula mix until just combined. 
• Spoon into 1/3 cup-capacity (80ml) paper muffin cups and sprinkle top with remaining cheese. 
• Bake for 30 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer. These muffins are best served freshly baked. Any leftovers can be stored in air tight containers. Warm them in the oven before serving. 

Recipe source: adapted from Donna Hay.