Happy Easter to everyone! I hope you all had a relaxing weekend with family and friends. Don’t know what the weather was like in your neck of the woods but in Sydney we had a lot of rain – it was fantastic. And even better, some of this downpour landed in the catchment areas.

You may have seen our very-versatile Suzanne on the Today Show this week (see photos at right). She baked Pear & Cinnamon Muffins with Richard and Kelly. Apparently a few head teachers have banned parents sending birthday cakes to schools with their children – Suz was giving viewers an alternative to those sickly sweet iced cakes we’re all used to. Do you think schools are going too far with this ban? Is it ok for kids to celebrate their birthday with a cake once a year? I think so, but I can also see the school’s point of view. If you’ve got 100 children in grade 2, and they all bring in a cake for their birthday during the year, that’s a lot of cake…

Anyway, if you’d like the recipe for Healthy Pear & Cinnamon Muffins, see below. Why not mix up the ingredients and use apples and cinnamon or bananas and vanilla?

Look out for our May issue of Australian Table next week – it hits the stands on Wednesday. It’s our budget issue, so get ready to start saving! You’ll find more than 50 great recipes that cost $3 or less a serve, and lots of great insider tips about making your money go further.

Enjoy,
Sophie

Healthy Pear & Cinnamon Muffins
Recipe by Suzanne Gibbs
Makes 18
Prep time 10 minutes
Cooking time 20 minutes

2 cups (300g) plain flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
11/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, plus extra to dust
1/2 cup (110g) sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup (250ml) milk
2/3 cup (160ml) light olive oil
2 pears, peeled, cored, diced

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius or 180 degrees Celsius fan. Lightly grease three 6–hole 1/3 cup muffin pans.
2. Combine flour, baking powder and cinnamon in a bowl. Stir in sugar.
Fold through combined egg, milk and oil until just combined. Gently fold through two–thirds of pear. Spoon into prepared pans and top each muffin with remaining pear. Dust with extra cinnamon and bake for 20 minutes, until golden.
3. Cool for 5 minutes in pan before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.