Welcome to the world of Mug Muffins.

They’re not the most beautiful of creatures, but I’m all about inner beauty and the mug muffin has “a great personality” and you have to love something so healthy, tasty and easy!

Mug muffins are a great way to make a healthy snack without being tempted to eat more than you should. This is a single serve recipe that can be made in less than 5 minutes. That’s less time than it takes to get to the nearest cafe, but long enough to stop you gobbling up a second without thinking. As a bonus, most mug muffins contain a serve of fruit or vegetables and are so easy you could make them at work!

If you have time I would advocate baking your muffin because clearly the texture of a microwave muffin is not the same, it is denser and less crumbly (which, personally I love). This recipe is for those concerned about time, health, cost and taste, and there is always some trade-off between them in any meal. However I think mug muffins hold up to the taste criteria well and in the battle of wills between me and bad food, mug muffins step in to rescue me from bad decisions!

While this is a savoury mug muffin, I will be posting sweet mug muffins in the coming weeks to fill whatever craving you are having.

Zucchini and Feta Mug Muffin
serves 1, 5 minutes prep and cooking

1/2 cup zucchini, grated
1/4 cup of wholemeal flour
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp baking soda
1/2 an egg equivalent (either half an egg, or egg equivalent)
pepper
1 tsp fresh basil
1 tbs of crumbled feta (or equivalent olives or sundried tomatoes for vegan)
1/2 tsp oil (leave out for lower calories)
1 tbs milk (use milk options such as almond, soy or rice for a vegan muffin)

Grate your zucchini, microwave for 45 seconds while you get the flour mix together. The reason to microwave the zucchini first is that zucchini has a lot of moisture. Pre-cooking it releases some of the moisture which we then use to moisten the muffin batter, otherwise raw zucchini in the batter will result in soggy muffins as the zucchini releases the moisture into the batter while it cooks.

Mix all the dry ingredients in a small bowl, then stir in the zucchini, feta and basil. You should have a thick, clumpy ball. Add 1 tbs of oil or milk (or half of each), if you used real egg you may not need to add any oil or milk if it is already moist enough. Mix well and add as much extra milk as you need to get the batter to become smooth but not sloppy. I added 1 tablespoon plus a half teaspoon of almond milk to get the right consistency.

Transfer the mix to a lightly oiled mug.

Cook for approximately 1 and a half minutes in a microwave, this will vary depending on your microwave strength, so start with 1 minute and then continue in 20 sec bursts until cooked. Alternatively cook in a 180 degree oven for 8 minutes.

Best eaten promptly, I’m happy with a fork eating straight out of the mug. Otherwise slightly cooled, halved and spread with low fat cream cheese is delicious too.

If you want to eat it at work but prep it at home, try preparing the batter at home then taking it to work to microwave in a small microwave safe container.