Wierd and Wonderful

I often wonder how chefs and foodie writers come up with recipes and new food combinations. Never more so than with the muffins I baked this evening. This recipe uses the whole orange - peel and all. For muffin purists, the method is very radical too - the whole lot is blitzed in the food processor.

Whoever it was, it was a genius idea! These muffins are really lovely, and have always been a hit whenever I've made them. My own addition (very popular with The Family) is adding dark chocolate chips, which make a great combination with the zesty flavour of the orange.

Orange Whizz Muffins
Makes 12

1 whole orange
½ cup orange juice
½ cup canola oil
1 ½ cups plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
¾ cup raw sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat oven to 200 C.
Cut up orange, skin and all, into pieces. Remove the pips. Place into food processor or blender and process until finely chopped. Add all the remaining ingredients except the chocolate chips and process until mixed. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand.

Divide the mixture into the muffin cases. (I love Nigella's tip of using a spring release icecream scoop for spooning muffin mixure, and bought an ice-cream scoop for this very purpose!)

Bake for 15-20 mins until muffins spring back when pressed gently.