This is an unusual flavour pairing that I probably wouldn't have thought of on my own, but it did make for some tasty muffins. That said, I do feel like the flavours could use some re-balancing. The cheese in them was delicious, but I don't feel like the feijoa came through quite as strongly as I would have liked. And, since I was working with dried thyme rather than fresh, I cut it back to only half a teaspoon, but I think it could have done with a bit more in the end.

The original recipe called for a 3:1 ratio of plain flour to whole wheat. I decided to skew it more toward the whole wheat and do a 1:1 mix. But, having tasted the muffins, I think 100% whole wheat would have been even better!

If I were willing to take even more liberties with the recipe, I might try adding a bit of lemon zest to the batter along with the thyme. I think that would provide a nice complement to the other flavours and give a little sharpness to round everything out.

Feijoa Muffins with Blue Cheese and Thyme

Slightly adapted from NZ Woman's Weekly

Ingredients

• 100g butter, softened
• 100g brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 c. milk
• zest of 1/2 a lemon
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 250g whole wheat flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. thyme (fresh or dried)
• 5-10 grinds each of salt and black pepper
• 300g feijoa pulp, mashed
• 6 small feijoas, halved and scooped
• 75-100g blue cheese, crumbled

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and grease a muffin tin.
2. Cream the butter with the sugar.
3. Beat in the eggs, one at a time.
4. Stir the lemon zest and baking soda into the milk and add the milk mixture to the butter mixture. Mix well.
5. Sift the baking powder into the flour and add the thyme, salt, and pepper.
6. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir to combine.
7. Stir in the feijoa pulp.
8. Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin tin(s).
9. Press a feijoa half into the top of each muffin and top with a sprinkle of blue cheese and a bit of extra pepper.
10. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 18-20 minutes.