Cheese and bacon savoury muffins

I’ve seen countless savoury muffin recipes and have no idea why I’ve not tried one until now.  Probably because my sweet tooth always associates muffins with sugar.  I’ll confess to not liking sandwiches.  It’s an odd quirk,.  I have a friend who is an award-winning chef, and he’s tried to beat me out of this strangeness by making me the most exciting sandwiches you could ever possibly imagine, with the most sought-after ingredients.  But, to me, they’re still just a sandwich.  I think it’s a throwback to childhood and the fact I’m still scarred for life by the dry, curled up monstrosities we used to be fed at school each day.  I mentioned this in passing to a parent recently who suggested that instead of sandwiches at picnics they have the savoury muffins you see here.  They’ve been a revelation.  They’re so easy to make (I made these with my daughter and they went down really well at a play date).  You can leave out the bacon if you prefer, but I like the extra salty chewiness they add.  And there’s nothing that can’t be improved with the presence of bacon.  Apart from maybe a fruit salad.  Or cup of tea.  They’re best eaten warm from the oven.

Ingredients

Muffins

• 8 ounces / 225g self-raising flour
• 2 ounces / 50g rye flour
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder
• ½ teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1 teaspoon of English mustard powder
• 5 ounces / 150g strong-tasting Cheddar cheese
• 6 tablespoon of groundnut oil
• 5 ounces / 150g Greek yoghurt
• 4½ fluid ounces / 125ml full-fat milk
• 1 egg

Topping

• 1 ounce / 35g strong-tasting Cheddar cheese
• 3 rashers of streaky bacon

Method

Before doing anything else, grill the three rashers of bacon for the topping and set aside to cool.

Pre-heat the oven to 200°C / gas mark 6.

Muffins

Grate the cheese for the muffins.

Mix together all the dry ingredients with the cheese.

Mix together the wet ingredients in a bowl.

Pour the dry ingredients into the bowl of the wet ingredients, stirring all the time, and do not worry if it is lumpy.

Line a 12-hole muffin tray with 12 paper cases or use silicon muffin cases on a baking tray.

Pour the mixture evenly divided into the 12 cases.

Bake in the oven for 20 minutes.

Topping

Grate the cheese for the topping.

Cut up the bacon with scissors into easy-to-sprinkle sizes.

When the muffins are cooked, take them out of the oven and quickly drop the grated cheese, even divided, over each.

Then sprinkle each muffin evenly with the bacon.

Put the muffins back in the oven for a further five minutes.

Put them on a baking tray to cool but remember they are at their best while still warm.

Tips

Don’t use a blow torch on the cheese. It sets fire to the cases.

Trivia

The word “muffin” comes from the German muffe and the French moufflet which mean “soft bread”. Muffins are a quick form of bread because they use no yeast and require no kneading or proving. Each US state has its own muffin. Minnesota has the blueberry while Alabama has the banana nut and Alaska the cinnamon. Although Wisconsin does have the Cheddar muffin and Virginia has the scrambled egg muffin, none of them has the cheese and bacon muffin.