We’ve been having a little bit of an unintentional summer vacation from blogging – busy times but in a totally good way: we’ve been spending a lot of time in summer cottages and not that much time in the kitchen, and that’s about to continue for a while. Anyhow, this is a simple recipe that came together quite quickly when I wanted to make a salty evening snack. These were my first savoury muffins and they came out deliciously. I’m already thinking of a number of variations – with chopped nuts, seeds, and different spice combos. These would be quite perfect for a summer picnic I think!

I recently found a wonderful organic smoked rye flour. It’s called riihikuiva which means barn-dried in Finnish, and has an amazingly deep and rich smokey flavor. If there’s no smoked flour available, I bet a pinch of smoked paprika with regular rye flour would work just as well. We served these muffins plain, hot from the oven with our evening tea, and I bet muffin halves spread with some vegan cream cheese would be pretty tasty as well.

Dry Mix:

• 2 dl white whole wheat flour
• 1/2 dl smoked rye flour (or another smoked flour, or medium rye flour)
• 1/2 dl oat bran
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons brown sugar (muscovado)
• 1 teaspoon each: salt, dried basil, chilli flakes

Wet Mix:

• 1 and 3/4 dl plain unsweetened soy yoghurt
• 3/4 dl cold-pressed sunflower oil (or olive oil)
• 1/2 to 3/4 dl water
• 2 cloves garlic, pressed

Add-ins:

• 15 kalamata olives, chopped
• 3 sundried tomatoes in oil, rinsed and chopped
• 1-2 tablespoons capers
• 1 spring onion, sliced

I first preheated the oven to 200 degrees Celsius and sprayed 8 muffins cups with olive oil.

I stirred together the wet and dry mixes in separate bowls and then combined the two, being careful not to overmix. I had to add a tablespoon or so more water because the batter was too dry, but this always depends – it’s best to start with 1/2 dl water and add more as needed. I folded in the olives, sundried tomatoes and capers, and spooned the batter in the muffin cups. Then I sprinkled the muffins with some onion slices, and baked them for 17 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin came out clean.